KoF: Quiescent Power Prologue
by Shin aK1ra-sama
Summary: A new hero rises to find a curse from his past. Used to be called Mark of the Genocider. Side story next time, Iori gets a phone call from a British trustee of an inheritance. Why would someone call Iori for something like that?
1. Akira and the Infinity Team

A preteen girl with black hair (not long not short) smiles professionally and announces to the camera, "Junior journalist Mariha Kia here! Mick doesn't own _The King of Fighters_, any other SNK characters, or anything else being referred to in _King of Fighters: Mark of the Genocide_! Like _Cromartie High_ and other useless things!"

Another preteen girl with brown hair shouts to Kia, "Kia-chan, the camera's not responding well!"

"What?! Aisha-chan, not again!"

"Hmm, where's Mikazawa when you need him?"

"That guy's a freakin' robot!"

A teen guy with short black hair walks in and explains, "It's cool. He may know how to fix the camera!"

"Mick-sempai!" Kia yells ferociously.

"Oh, wait! Mikazawa isn't good with machines!" Mick remembers. "But we can just bring him here for the heck of it!"

Kia grabs Mick's collar and brings him to her face level. "Look here, Mick-sempai. I do not want that stupid rust bucket of a—"

The camera turns black and Aisha can be heard saying, "**We are experiencing technical difficulties please wait…**"

* * *

+++

* * *

In a rural area that is covered in flames, two figures can be seen from a distance. The enigmatic one has long white hair and burns not from the flames. The other, a youth, cries over a burning body, yet he too does not seem to burn.

"**Kanashii… **_**(Sad...)**_" the enigmatic one says.

"Kanashii? _(Sad?)_" the youth replies as he still cries.

"**Omae no hajimari… **_**(How you started...)**_" he turns around.

"Boku no...hajimari?...Nani wo...shimashita! _(How I started? What have you done?!)_"

"**Issai wo arawashimasu. Machiru… **_**(I shall reveal all. Just wait...)**_" the enigmatic one disappears in the flames.

"Doushite…A— _(Why...A—)_"

* * *

Somewhere near Angens, a city far east from Southtown, in a red airship, a tall young man with red eyes, a pale complexion, and blonde hair long enough to almost touch his shoulders observes the scenery. Only a few hours have passed before his encounter with the military and air force.

"Can the Sky Noah hold, Griever?" the young man turns around and asks the captain.

"Sir, during the fight, two small parts of the ship were set aflame. You remember, yes?" Griever, the captain, replies.

"Yes, what of it?"

"And we had to drop that cargo, since we had not the time to extinguish the flames."

"…_What else?_"

"That cargo carried the rest of our fuel supply."

"_Impossible!_" the young man was surprised to have heard that.

"With that on your mind, we'll have to land soon. Otherwise—"

"We shall not! I will have someone deliver fuel to the airship. We shall have the airship refueled in midair!"

"Let me finish: we only have enough fuel to fly for thirty minutes!"

"_The choice is clear yet difficult for me to accomplish…_"

"So, we either crash and sink to the bottom of the sea or land and save ourselves!"

"…_The right choice it is then…_"

"Your choice."

"…We'll land near that forest." The young man points to the west, "If there is a large enough clearing, we may land in the forest."

"Right choice." Griever whispers to himself.

"…_We may have to recover, but this may be the hardest way to…_"

* * *

At an apartment near Angens, a teenager with black hair long enough to cover his eyes awakens. After tossing and turning, he falls off his bed face-first and wonders about the nightmare he had just had.

"WAAAH! Itai! _(That hurt!)_ That dream again…" he says to himself as he falls down then gets up.

He looks at the time and realizes that it is 9:30 AM. With that in mind, he knows that his elder sister is awake and that the bathroom will not be occupied for what may seem like hours.

He sighs and thinks, "Let's go, and stop dwelling on the past!" He exits his room and makes way to the bathroom but stops to think again, "But I have to wonder: was that man in the flame real or a just a dream?"

"OIII!!!" a young woman with green eyes, long black hair tied to a ponytail, and energetic appearance yells at his ear.

He could not help but cover his ears and yell out, "NAN DA YO, NEE— _(What the hell, Nee—)_" He pauses and realizes what he has done and apologizes, "Sumimasen, nee-san. Ohayou. _(Excuse me, Nee-san. Good Morning)_"

"Ne, Akira-kun, you had that dream again, didn't you?" Akira's sister asks.

"Ee, I did. The strange thing is that the number of times I've been dreaming that is becoming more and more frequent. Sooner or later, I might be dreaming of that while I'm awake." Akira answers.

"You mean a daydream?"

"A day-nightmare…"

"_Maybe I should change the subject…_Ne, Akira-kun, you do know what today is, right?"

"Thursday?"

"Un, remember that we're gonna go hiking today!"

"Eh? I forgot!"

"Hurry up and take a shower! Time is of the essence!" Akira's sister points to the bathroom.

"Hai! _(Got it!)_" Akira runs to the bathroom and closes the door.

"Hurry up! Remember that we are gonna buy some books and deliver them to Kiki!"

"…_Can't she give me a little privacy!_" he tries to ignore her but is failing.

She knocks on the bathroom door then says, "This was what she said: 'Ayumi-chan, please get me _War and Peace_, _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_, _The Little Prince_, and _King Lear_. I'll pay you back with interest! Just please get me those books!'"

"…_Please leave me alone…Please leave me alone…_" he practically begs in his mind.

"I think they are all related to royalty. I wonder why she would want to—"

"Ayumi-nee-san," Akira interrupts her.

"Nani? _(What is it?)_"

"Can you please…go prepare breakfast or something? I can't really—"

"You're just being too shy again, but alright. See ya downstairs!" Ayumi walks down the stairs. "_I wonder if that helped him get that memory off his mind._"

"_Thank you for trying to help, nee-san…_" Akira thinks as he is in the shower.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Sky Noah lands in a clearing at the nearby forest.

"Onii-sama, why did we flee? The Sky Noah would have been able to take those goons out! Besides, I needed to go buy a new wardrobe! My appearance was at stake!" a young woman with red eyes and long blonde hair complains to the young man.

"Rose, I apologize, but the lives of our crew were at stake. The Sky Noah would not have been able to fight back against twenty crafts and forty missile units," the young man replies.

Rose scoffs and retorts, "If Papa were here, he would have all of them taken out for his little princess!"

The young man turns away and looks at the ground as Rose glares at him.

* * *

"I understand her trying to make me forget, but I don't think I ever will…" Akira says as he dries off. After doing the things a regular person would do, he picks out a white t-shirt that is printed with the kanji for "heaven" and regular blue jeans, then proceeds to wear them.

"Akira-kun, breakfast is ready!" Ayumi calls from the kitchen downstairs.

"Hai! _(Okay!)_" Akira responds, takes a black jacket, then rushes down the stairs. "_I wonder what nee-san has made today._"

"Kore! _(Here!)_" Ayumi hands Akira a plate of waffles before he could reach the kitchen.

"Waffles?" he says as he stares at the plate in his hands. "_This is…different…_"

"I thought you would like it, since you've been reading that Snow Fairy manga thing recently— Sweety, I think?"

"It's called _chicchaina yuki yousei SHUGA-_ _(Little Snow Fairy Sugar)_," Akira corrected Ayumi. "How do you know Sugar loves waffles?"

"I've read it while you were in high school last year," with a smile, Ayumi explains.

"Oh…You've been reading my manga without my permission?!"

"It's okay! I didn't shoot fireballs at it or anything!"

"_She doesn't have the ability to shoot projectiles,_" Akira sighs then proceeds to the table to eat. "Where's the butter?"

"So, that's what I forgot to buy!" in a thinking pose, Ayumi says.

"NEE-SAN!"

* * *

"Onii-sama, may we go now? I'm not very accustomed to being surrounded by wild creatures!" Rose links arms with her brother as she whines, although there are hardly any animals in sight (especially from inside the ship).

"I will protect you from anything that happens, Rose," the young man responds. "Captain, what of the fuel?"

"Sir, we have asked for a delivery, but it will take about two weeks…" Griever replies.

"…Two weeks…" the young man responds.

"TWO WEEKS?!?" Rose yells. "Are we that far from civilization?!"

"Nope, the problem is that we need them to bring it without being noticed," Griever explains to Rose.

Rose just glares at Griever, as if he were not finished yet.

Griever figures out what is wrong and says, "…Rose-sama…"

"Good work, captain; but this will probably be the worst two weeks of my life!" Rose whines as she clings to her brother.

* * *

"Thank you very much!" the cashier replies after Ayumi has paid for the books.

"No, thank you!" Ayumi retorts, then looks around for Akira. "Akira-kun, doko ni iru no? _[Akira-kun, where are you?_"

Akira just stares at a bookshelf filled with manga.

"Ne, Akira-kun, ikimasu yo! _(Alright, Akira-kun, let's go!)_" Ayumi smiles as she points to the door.

"_Love Hina, Samurai Deeper Kyo, SoulTaker, Naruto, Akazukin Chacha—_"

"…Akira-kun, ikuyo! _(...Akira, let's go!)_" Ayumi then pulls Akira away from his trance by pulling him by the ear.

"Nan— oi! _(Wha— Hey!)_"

* * *

"Captain, do you think it a good idea to take Rose outside?" the young man asks Griever an out-of-nowhere question.

"Uh, Sir, I don't know Rose-chan as well as you do. So, if it is in her best interests, I would not know. However, if it is to make her get some fresh air, then, by all means go ahead!" Griever replies.

"…_Is that so…_"

"…Well?"

"Aya-san, please escort Rose outside the Sky Noah," the young man calls for one of the maids. "I shall be waiting outside for Rose."

"Hai, Bernstein-sama," a maid with brown eyes and short red hair answers, then leaves.

He then turns around and sees Griever staring at him. "…Captain, is there a problem?"

"'Bernstein-sama'?" Griever shrugs, then continues, "Since you are both Bernsteins, wouldn't it be confusing to call both of you that?"

"…How so?"

"I mean: if we are referring to Rose-chan and say 'Bernstein-sama', someone could misinterpret it and believe that we are referring to you!"

"…_I do not understand_…"

"Maybe it would be less confusing if we all referred to you both by your first name…, Adelheid-sama."  
Adelheid closes his eyes, turns, then proceeds to exit the room.

* * *

"Nee-san, are you sure it is wise to bring those books with us while we are…um…exploring the forest?" Akira asks Ayumi as they both traverse through the forest.

"Heki heki! _(It's alright!)_" Ayumi retorts. "Nothing bad is gonna happen to these books while I'm safeguarding them!"

"…_It's a stupid idea just to deliver books by foot and not to mention our taking the LONG WAY_!" Akira thinks as he drags his feet and bends his head down while walking.

* * *

"Onii-sama, why do you insist on tormenting me?" Rose whines.

"I have heard that going outdoors for fresh air is good for one's health. I am only thinking of what is good for you, Rose," Adelheid explains.

"Prince!" Rose yells as she sees their pet black panther kitten run out from the door. "Come back here!" she says as she chases Prince.

"Rose!" Adelheid does the same.

* * *

Ayumi abruptly stops, and as a result, Akira bumps his head to her butt! Surprised and pissed, Ayumi turns around and grabs Akira by the jacket and yells, "NE, ANTA—" Fortunately, she remembers that she is speaking to Akira, whom she knows would never do such a thing intentionally. "Sorry!"

"Nan da yo, nee-san! _(What the hell, Nee-san!)_" Akira snaps back. "So…, why did you stop so suddenly?!?"

"Mite! Asoko ni! _(Look! Over there!)_" Ayumi points towards the clearing.

Akira looks towards that direction and is surprised to find an enormous red craft. "N-n-nani are?! _(W-w-what is that?!)_"

"Shiranai! _(I don't know!)_"

They observe the ship for a while and find nothing eventful. So, Ayumi with Akira following runs towards the craft.

_**MARK OF THE GENOCIDER 1**_

Prince stops running and observes his masters. Just then, Ayumi runs to the clearing and bumps into Rose.

"Waa!" Rose yelps, then falls down.

"Ee? Onna no ko? _(Huh? A girl?)_ Sorry! Are you okay?" Ayumi responds.

"Ojou-san _(Miss)_, are you alright?" Akira asks as well.

"My precious sister, are you hurt?" Adelheid asks Rose at the same time.

"No, onii-sama, I'm fine!" Rose replies, then yells at Ayumi, "Idiot! Watch it!"

"EXCUSE ME?!?" Ayumi snaps back upon hearing such a thing.

"_It's not that painful an insult…_" Akira comments in his mind.

"Aside from being stupid, you seem to be deaf, as well!" Rose continues with her insults.

"I can see where this may be going…" Akira comments by a whisper.

"What's your problem, snob?!" Ayumi retorts.

"See…" Akira comments again.

"Snob!? Well, at least I'm not a freakish bookworm who carries books even in a forest!" Rose fires back.

"Um, those books are—" Akira tries to explain.

"I'd rather be a bookworm, than a haughty snob in lewd attire!" Ayumi yells out before Akira could finish explaining.

"Excuse me?!?" Rose yells back.

"Apparently that insult got to her, and now I don't know where this is going…" Akira comments.

"Maybe you're the one who is deaf!" Ayumi continues, then laughs.

"Onii-sama!" Rose turns to Adelheid.

"Yes…" Adelheid responds.

"Beat up this insolent—" Rose orders him.

"You're asking your brother to fight for you?" Ayumi yells, then turns to Akira.

"_Why is nee-san looking at me?_" Akira asks himself.

"Fine! I'll have my brother fight in my place, too!" Ayumi declares. "Right, Akira-kun?"

"Sure…WHAT!?!" Akira's jaw drops.

"Onii-sama, will you fight him for me?" Rose points at Akira.

"Yes…Prepare yourself!" Adelheid glares at Akira.

"W-wait a minu—" Akira tries to talk some sense into everyone.

Ayumi pulls Akira towards her and whispers to him, "Come on, Akira-kun, this is my pride we are talking about here. I want you to go there and beat the crap out of her brother so I, I mean, we can show that we are not pushovers!"

"Then…, why do I have to be the one to fight?!" Akira yells after looking at Adelheid.

"Just go! So, we can see how far you've gone in your training!" Ayumi pushes Akira towards Adelheid.

"Ready? **Go!**" Rose and Ayumi both yell out.

Adelheid runs towards Akira, then turns and kicks.

Akira jumps back before the kick touches him. "_Okay, long legs plus kick plus force of strength equals critical hit!_"

Adelheid on the offensive continues with kicks.

Akira manages to block or evade the attacks. "_Geez, I'll have to start attacking soon!_"

Adelheid stops kicking, then, with his hand extended backwards, rushes towards Akira. He grabs Akira and slams him into a nearby tree. Adelheid then steps back to prepare himself once Akira gets back up.

Akira coughs. "_He's strong in almost every aspect!_" Akira tries to get up and see that his opponent is close enough to be tripped by a sweep. "_Chance!_" Akira quickly sweeps with both his legs and trips him. Before Adelheid could hit the ground, Akira turns and kicks him to send him upward. Akira saw the opportunity and finishes his attack by grabbing Adelheid by the feet before he could fall and tossing him into the same tree. Akira quickly jumps in an attempt to attack Adelheid again.

Adelheid then notices that, in the air, Akira is completely open. He then hops and does a circular kick that slashes the air.

Akira takes the hit completely and is sent upward then crashing to the ground. He gets up and wipes some blood from his mouth. "_Chikusso, I'll have to remember not to do that again!_" He hardens his stance and appears to be gathering his energy for a few seconds. Believing that the amount he has gathered is enough, he waits for his opponent to do his next move.

Adelheid backs up a bit and slides forward with a low slashing kick, which Akira blocks. He then jumps and tries to knee Akira, but Akira blocked the attack with a green light from his palm. Adelheid uses the circular kick again. Akira blocks with the light again but is pushed back and slips from the force of the kick.

Akira gets up again and appears to be out of breath. "_Ryuusei won't cut it…However, there's still plenty of life left in me, and I'm not going to fall here!_" He runs forward and does a side kick.

However, Adelheid evades the kick by stepping back. He then runs and with a purplish aura glowing from his hand grabs Akira. He then slams Akira into another tree.

Akira falls and struggles to get up. "_It's like I'm burning on the inside! ...I still have my trump card. Time to break it out!_" Akira rushes toward Adelheid and does another side kick, which he evades again. Adelheid tries to grab Akira again but is greeted by Akira's strongly punching his chest and grabbing his armor.

Akira slams Adelheid to the ground and brings him up. He ends his offensive by bursting out all the energy he had gathered during the fight. "**Dreamer's Dust!**" The bursting of energy results in an explosion that sends Adelheid crashing through about five trees.

"Way to go, Akira-kun! All that training was worth it!" Ayumi yells.

"Onii-sama! Show him your full power!" Rose commands.

Adelheid struggles to get up and sees that Akira is on the verge of collapsing.

"_He took Dreamer's Dust completely and is still able to stand?_" a tired Akira stares at Adelheid. "_The fight will—_"

"…_End with just one more move…_" Adelheid thinks.

"_I'll take him out!" "That move will be mine!_" the two think at the same time.

They both run towards each other. Adelheid kicks the ground to bring out a small wave of energy, and Akira slashes the air to bring out a small wave of energy. Both see each other's attacks and block. They both look at each other— Adelheid exhausted and Akira breathing hard. The fight results with both of them collapsing.

"Akira!" Ayumi runs to her brother.

"Onii-sama!" Rose runs to her brother.

"Good Afternoon, Bernstein-sama, Harima-sama," someone greets.

"Uh?" Akira groans then awakens to find that he is covered in bandages and lying on a bed at what appears to be an infirmary.

"Aya-san?" Adelheid manages to say before opening his eyes. He too is covered in bandages and lying on another bed.

"Bernstein Rose-sama and Andrews-sama had the medical unit take you into the Sky Noah, Bernstein-sama, Harima-sama," Aya explains.

"...Good work…" Adelheid says as he tries to get out of bed but instead falls out of bed.

"Bernstein-sama!" Aya dashes to Adelheid and catches him. "You are still injured. It would be best if you rest here."

Adelheid returns to bed, and Aya exits the room.

"It's a good thing that they are loyal to you," Akira comments.

"…_I lost the fight…_" Adelheid thinks as he lies in bed.

"…Are you beating yourself up for getting a draw?" Akira asks.

"…_I could not defend her honor…_" Adelheid basically punches himself in his mind.

"Neither of us lost, but neither of us won either!"

"…I have failed her…" Adelheid thinks aloud.

"Huh? That girl? Hmm…your little sister?"

"…Rose…" Adelheid covers his eyes with his hands.

Akira looks at the ceiling.

"…_I am the same as Father. He abandoned us, and I forfeited Rose's honor…_"

"…At least yours is still alive…"

"…_What?_" Adelheid turns his head to look at Akira.

"…I remember…five years ago…when Dad, Mom, Nadeshiko-kaa-san, James-san, and Aki-chan, all died…" Akira begins to reminiscence.

* * *

At a rural area outside Southtown…

"Otou-san, why do we have to go hiking today?" a twelve-year-old boy whines to his father.

"Because Koyuki, her husband, and Ayumi-chan are coming with us!" the boy's father replies as he packs things with his wife.

"Could you please help Aki tie her shoelaces?" the boy's father's wife orders the boy.

"Ha," the boy tries to go to a little girl, probably seven years old, who is trying to tie her shoelaces.

"Akira-kun, what have we talked about yesterday concerning respect?" the boy's father demands.

Akira scoffs. "I don't care! Nadeshiko-san isn't Mom!" he yells after tying Aki's shoelaces.

"Akira-kun!" Akira's father scolds.

"Ikimasho _(Let's go!)_, Aki-chan!" Akira runs outside and pulls Aki with him.

"Ah, hai!" Aki responds.

Akira and Aki wander the streets for a while and soon find familiar faces.

"Eh?! Akira-kun!" a fourteen-year-old girl runs to Akira.

"Nee-san!" Akira with Aki runs to her.

"I missed you so much!" Ayumi says while hugging her little brother.

"Boku mo! _(Me, too!)_" Akira replies.

"Akira-kun, long time no see…" a woman talks to him.

"Eh? Okaa-san!" Akira pushes off Ayumi and hugs his mother.

"Hidoi, Akira-kun!" Ayumi yells as she tries to recompose herself.

"Um, onii-chan, who are they?" Aki asks Akira.

"Ah, this girl is my sister, Ayumi," Akira points to Ayumi.

"Konchi wa! _(G'afternoon)_" Ayumi greets.

"This is my real mom," Akira holds his mother's hand.

"Yoroshiku _(Nice to meet you)_," his mother greets.

"And that is…most likely my mom's husband," Akira glares at the man standing beside Akira's mother.

"Nice to meet you!" the man greets.

"Everyone, this is my little sister from that woman that Dad married— Aki," Akira introduces Aki.

"Ah, konnichi wa. Yoroshiku onegashimasu _(Good afternoon. It is nice to meet you)_," Aki shyly says.

"Koyuki, you're here?" a familiar voice behind Akira says.

"Otou-san…" Akira turns to see his father running towards them.

"Hiro…" Koyuki, Akira's mother, says as she looks at Hiro, Akira's father.

"You must be James. Nice to meet you," Hiro extends his hand to James, Koyuki's husband.

"I have heard many good things about you from both Koyuki and Ayumi. You seem to fit whatever they have said," James shakes Hiro's hand.

"Although you are lucky to have a woman like Koyuki," Hiro whispers to James, but it was loud enough for Akira to hear.

"_Why don't you two just get back together?! I want Mom back!_" Akira shouts in his mind, then sees Nadeshiko running towards them.

"I wish you guys would have at least waited for me!" Nadeshiko complains.

"Don't worry, Nadeshiko. It's not like we are going to run off and leave you here!" Hiro assures Nadeshiko.

"Eh? Nani are? _(What's that?)_" Aki looks to the sky and sees something similar to a shooting star. "Nagare boshi ka _(A shooting star?)_," she then runs towards the light.

"Aki-chan?" Akira looks for Aki and finds her running off. "OI!" he follows her.

"Akira-kun?" Hiro sees Aki and Akira running.

"Where are they going?" James asks.

"Maybe we should go after them before they do something like getting lost," Nadeshiko says then runs after them. Soon, all but Ayumi follows.

"Um, I'll just go back and see the old house…" Ayumi strolls to her former home.

"Nagare boshi-san, mattekudasai! _(Mr. Shooting Star, please wait!)_" Aki yells at the star-like object.

Akira catches up with her and asks, "Why were you running?!"

"Are!" Aki points slightly above them.

After Akira looked upward, his eyes grow as big as saucers and his complexion fades. "ARE WA—_(THAT'S A—)_"

"Nagare boshi! _(Shooting star)_" Aki squeals with joy.

"_ARE WA MISAIRU!!!_ _(THAT IS A MISSILE!!!)_" Akira grabs Aki and sprints away from the missile as quickly as possible, although it is a futile effort. He runs and bumps into his father, his mother, Nadeshiko, and James.

"What is wrong with you, Akira-kun?!" Hiro scolds. Soon, every adult scream at Akira.

"Matte yo! _(Hold it!)_ We have to get out of here now!" Akira yells in the midst of all the screaming.

However, that made their time together much shorter than if they had ran with Akira. The missile finally hits the ground, specifically, very near Akira, and explodes on impact. The explosion sets the area on fire. In the midst of the flames, two living figures could be seen. One is Akira and the other is an enigma. Akira holds the burning body of who used to be Aki close to him and hysterically weeps over it.

* * *

"That's how it happened…" Akira tearfully says.

"…How could you have survived that blaze…or the impact of the missile…?" Adelheid asks Akira.

"I…don't know…I just wish that…Aki-chan was the one who survived…"

"…My sympathies…"

"Akira-kun, I'm glad you're feeling well…" Ayumi says as she and Rose enter the room.

"Onii-sama, I'm happy to see that you are recovering very well!" Rose says after Ayumi.

"Did anything happen while we were unconscious?" Akira says once he notices that the two girls seem to be acting strangely...compared to how they acted before the fight.

"Well, Akira-kun, Adel-san,…" Ayumi begins.

"…After having taking the time to get to know each other, we have become friends!" Rose finishes.

"…Didn't you guys just blurt out insults…um…before Adel-san and I fought?" Akira asks.

"We didn't have a conversation then, but after a few hours of talking…" Ayumi explains.

"We may be kindred spirits!" Rose finishes.

"…Right…" Akira says in disbelief.

Adelheid smiles.

* * *

+++

* * *

Kia enters the living room of Mick's house and sees Mick and Aisha watching something on the living room computer. "Whatcha guys doin'?" she asks curiously.

"Oh, Kia-chan! Reviewing a few of your interviews!" Mick answers.

"W-Which interview?" Kia worriedly asks.

"Your first interview! The one with Harima-sempai!" Aisha gets up and pulls Kia closer to the monitor.

Kia slaps her forehead and cries, "Oh, no!"

* * *

"So, Harima-san, how old are you?" Kia asks.

"Mmm…seventeen!" Akira answers.

"What do you think about your sister, Andrews Ayumi-san?"

"Nee-chan is nice but talks me into fights. Nee-chan also taught me how to fight a bit!"

"By the way, how can she be your sister if you two have different family names?"

"Oh, when I was eight, our parents had a divorce and both got married to other people. I used to hate my step-mom before she died. After I lost her and Dad, I realized that I was trying to completely tear them apart," Akira explains as he wipes a few tears from his eyes. "Dad fell in love with Nadeshiko-kaa-san. I tried to break them apart since I was only acting upon my own interests, not Dad's, Nadeshiko-kaa-san, or Aki-chan's."

"Who is 'Aki-chan'?"

"She is Nadeshiko-kaa-san's daughter, Dad's daughter, and my precious sister…" Akira pauses then continues. "When I first met her, I didn't like her, since she seemed to be too friendly and accepting. At the time, I was suspicious about every person I have met. I kept pushing her away from me every time she helped me or tried to play with me. Until, one day, I saw her being picked by some older students, a chubby one and a tall skinny one— both probably eleven. I thought that I should just let them be, when I saw them take her lunch. After that, she started crying and the bullies tried to take her favorite toy— a rabbit plushie. In response, she tried to fight back for it but is pushed to the ground by those bullies. Imagine a five-year-old girl standing up against ten-year-old bullies! After that, I don't know what happened. I must have snapped. It must have been my belief in honor and justice or the fact that I am her brother and should be protecting her. I ran towards them and slugged the sapling one. Both of them got pissed and tried to maul me. Fortunately, I knew how to fight a little bit. The fight ended when an old man— probably the principal of the school got between us. He gave them both a scolding and a demand to see their parents. After apologizing, the two bullies were carried off by the principal. I, who was covered in cuts, bruises, and dust, looked at my sister. She started crying and jumped on me. I was really surprised by that. I thought that maybe they really hurt her or something! After that happened, Aki-chan and I could not even be compared to other close siblings. We were closer than moss and algae."

"Um…sure…" she obviously did not see the relation. "What things do you like…aside from honor and justice?" she ended with an unamused stare.

"Mm…Anime, Manga, Games, Music…"

"_An Otaku?_ Anything else?"

"Hm…Observing people?"

"Anything else?"

"Sleeping in?"

"…Fine, hobbies?"

"Reading, drawing, training, buying anime/ manga/ game merchandise and memorabilia, meeting new people, and lolis…"

"You're a LOLICON?!"

"Yes…"

"_Perverted pedophile_…"

"Don't get me wrong! I just think that they are cute...really cute…massively cute…unbelievably adorably cute…"

"_I stand corrected…insane perverted pedophile who must never be trusted around little girls!_"

Akira leans forward to show that he is waiting for the next question.

"Ah…favorite food?"

"Salty foods, fruits, riceballs, ramen, pork, beef, poultry, candy—"

"I meant your single most favorite food."

"Hm…jelly beans dai suki!!!"

"…Okay, what kind of girl is your type?"

"Ah…" Akira blushes. "I haven't a real preference. I think I would like one who is loyal and kind."

"Hard to find those these days!"

"I guess I'm a little romantic."

"Yeah, very unrealistic. _As long as he doesn't have a soft spot for young girls with lovely black hair, blue eyes, and a decent growth rate…What am I saying? The guy obviously loves lolis! …WHICH I HAPPEN TO BE!_"

"…Is something wrong?"

"**NOOO!**" she screams.

"Wha!?!" Akira almost falls off his seat.

"Um, sorry!" she quickly recomposes herself, "Next question: what is your favorite kind of places to be at?"

"…Beaches. I just enjoy being near water, I guess."

"_I stand corrected once again! Insane perverted pedophile, who must never be trusted around little girls especially at the beach! I have to remind myself to __**not**__ invite Harima-sempai with us on our trip to the beach!_"

"The sea just calms me down. When I look at a calm sea, I feel calm myself. When I see a stormy sea, I feel angered myself. When I see a rain at the sea, I feel sad myself."

"…_Weirdo otaku._ So, how's about we rap up this interview?" the journalist student gets up and stretches.

"Um…sure!" Akira stands up as well.

"Later!" she walks away.

"Um…wait! What is your name again? We've met before, but I don't have the ability to memorize many names!"

"…Mariha Kia…" Kia sighs and walks away.

"…What a weird name! However, she's really intelligent to be like twelve and already a journalist!" Akira remarks to himself as he leaves the room.

* * *

"It's a good thing we had you voice in the parts you paused for hours on end!" Aisha comments after the interview clip ends.

"No kidding! An interview with long periods of silence isn't very appealing!" Mick teases Kia.

"**SHUT UP, SEMPAI!**" Kia explodes.

"_Who says, 'Shut up!' to a sempai?_" he comments. "Out of nowhere question: 'kanashii' means 'sad,' right?"

"I think so…What does 'hajimari' mean?" Aisha answers then asks.

"It means 'beginning,' I think," Kia answers, "Um, issai' and 'arawasu' are…"

"'All' or 'everything'! 'Arawasu' means to reveal," Mick explains.

"Matte yo!" Kia yells as she massages her temples.

"What does that mean?!" Aisha cries out.

"'Wait,'" Mick answers.

"I can't keep up with you guys! WAAH!" Aisha falls on the couch face-first.

"Heki heki!" Kia walks over to Aisha and pats Aisha's back.

Aisha puts her head up, turns, then asks, "Now what does that mean?!"

"It means 'it's alright'…or something like that," Mick explains.

"Whatever. Let's go!" Kia jumps up.

"Go where?" Mick asks monotonously.

Kia just sighs and orders, "Sempai, don't ruin the moment and turn that stupid camera of yours off…"

"Hai hai," Mick replies and goes to the camera then mumbles, "Demon princess…"

"What was that?!" Kia snaps back.

"Thatwasquitepleasant!" Mick answers quickly.

* * *

Chapter 1: End

* * *

Please tell me if there are some (a lot of) problems, 'k?

This is my first fanfic, and don't be that mean or that nice either, 'k?

Note: Japanese word _(English translation)_; _Thinking_; **Emphasized**

By the way, Angens is obviously a city I made up. Another thing: I do not know the real name of Adelheid and Rose's pet black panther.

_Easter Eggs: Cromartie High and Galaxy Angels._

_Update 1: English translations to some Japanese words_

_Update 2: Complete English translations to some Japanese words_


	2. Akira and the High School Girls Team

At Angen's Middle School, a baseball field can be seen. Kia is sound-checking her microphone, and Aisha observing the Mick and Kia from the stands.

"Ready?" Kia asks.

"...Almost..." Mick fiddles around with the camera off-screen, "Done! On in 3, 2, 1..."

"Sorry for the delay folks! The same disclaimer applies here!" Kia announces.

At the stands, Aisha can be seen standing up and cheering for Kia.

"Now, then. If I recall correctly, our middle school baseball team lost against the Southtown Middle School baseball team." Kia bends towards the camera.

Aisha is still cheering Kia on and is jumping up and down.

"This is for our baseball team: 'YOU GUYS SUCK FOR LOSING TO SOME MEATHEAD MARTIAL ARTISTS!'"

Aisha stops jumping and stares at Kia.

"I mean, seriously! Such actions are a disgrace to our school!"

With an annoyed look, Aisha walks forward...

"And furthermore..."

"Aisha-chan!" Mick yells.

"Mick-sempai! Now we have to redo the take!"

"I mean Aisha-san just fell down the stands!"

Kia turns to see Aisha unconsciously lying on the base of the stands. "...Aisha-chan!" Kia runs to Aisha.

"Um..." Mick moves to the front of the camera, "We're having some technical difficulties right now!" Mick looks at the two.

At the background, Kia, in an attempt to wake her up, is shaking Aisha.

"Um...Yeah..." Mick says in an embarrassed tone then turns the camera off.

* * *

* * *

In a dark room, Akira looks around for a light switch. He finds one and flicks it on. A red light appears from the other end of the room. Due to the brightness of the light, Akira tries to block the light with his right arm. He blinks and sees a silhouette of what appears to be a human being.

"Nano mono ga anata wa…"

"**Mada mada desu ka…**"

"Dare anata…"

"**Ore wa…**"

"Anata wa…"

"**ORE-SAMA WA TE—**"

* * *

Adelheid stays at the training room to…well…train. 

"Konprinz!" Adelheid fires a large white ball of energy to a steel training dummy. The result is the dummy's almost complete being bent backwards. Adelheid looks at the training dummy. "_My normal Kinship Fire seems to have gotten stronger…_"

"Sir, shall we send in training robots or continue with the training dummies?" a voice heard from the speakers asks.

"…Training robots…level eight…"

"Sir! Are you sure? Only Bernstein Rugal-sama has been able to go past level seven!"

"…Send them in, Reno! I require power to protect Rose…"

"…Sir! Training robots type-gamma 04F2 level eight!" from the speaker, Reno complies.

Almost instantaneously, a many robots, all fashioned to look like Adelheid, appear and continue to appear. "…And to attain power, I must defeat myself!" Adelheid yells and begins attacking the training robots.

* * *

At the living room of a normal-sized home… 

"What do you mean 'You're leaving the team?!'" a girl, who has (not long not short) blonde hair and an orange bandana and probably around sixteen, yells.

"Even I want to know why you would want to leave the Anti-Kyokugenryu Team! Eiji, did we not make a pact to take down the Kyokugenryu dojo?!" a seventeen-year-old girl with long bluish-black hair tied to a ponytail asks.

"I am sorry, but my current mission is on hold. I have been ordered by a superior to join a team that he has organized," Eiji, a ninja with brown hair and a face mask explains. "I do not know who my teammates will be, but he has ordered me."

"…But who can we get to replace you?!" the blonde girl asks.

"Malin, don't say 'replace.' That sounds a little insulting," the bluish-black haired girl scolds the blonde girl.

"Kasumi-chan, Eiji is a precious friend, an important member of the team, and a valuable and irreplaceable member of the 'We-Hate-Kyokugenryu' Club!" Malin yells in a somewhat whining way.

"Orders are orders," Eiji explains. "I may not have any honor for being a ninja, but I must obey my superiors _and the one who pays me!_"

After having said that, Eiji disappears in a puff of smoke.

Malin and Kasumi cough a bit then recompose themselves.

"Damn…you, Eiji!" Malin coughs out.

"Well, let's…go look for another member," Kasumi coughs out, as well.

* * *

"Harima-sama. Harima-sama…" a familiar voice calls. 

"Eh!" Akira gets up from bed and sees that he is in his new room, which looks as if it were a hotel room. He also sees Megumi, another maid who has long red hair tied into pigtails and kind, cute blue eyes.

"Harima-sama, it is 8:32. If you keep sitting there, you will miss breakfast and your training with Bernstein-sama," Megumi explains.

"…_You're worse than that alarm clock I got for my fifteenth birthday!_" As Akira gets out of bed, he sarcastically says, "Thanks…"

"Harima-sama, will you still need me as a guide through the Sky Noah?"

"Um…Megumi-chan, we've been through this before. I don't like being called 'Harima-sama.' 'Harima-san' is okay. Even a simple 'Akira-kun' would be fine with me!"

Megumi turns around and explains, "It would not be right for a servant to call her master's friend that way…So do you still need a guide, Harima-sama?"

"I…um…I'll call you if I…need you, until then…just do…whatever you normally do." Akira answers shyly.

"Yes, Harima-sama," Megumi answers then leaves.

"_She never listens to me!...So what was that? The voice of that shadow seemed vaguely familiar…_" Akira thinks then looks at the bathroom door. "Bath, huh?" Akira says to himself and heads to the bathroom.

* * *

"Grosse Kreis!" Adelheid performs a circular slashing kick against several training robots that have tried to lunge at him. 

The robots that were hit by the attack are sent upward and crash down at a distance from Adelheid. Other robots shoot out electrical balls of energy at Adelheid.

"Grosse Wand!" Adelheid creates a white barrier of energy from his hand.

The electrical shots reflect back to the robots, after having made contact with the barrier of energy, and completely take out some of the affected robots. Unaffected robots back up then slide on the ground with a slashing kick towards Adelheid.

"Grosse Sklaven!" Adelheid runs toward the attackers, extends both his arms backwards, grabs two robots, jumps, and slams them to the ground.

The two robots explode after being critically slammed into the ground.

"I can't lose here…" Adelheid comments to himself.

* * *

At the living room, Malin scans through her cell phone's phonebook to find someone to replace Eiji. Sitting at the dining table in the kitchen, Kasumi, however, is drinking green tea. 

"This stinks!" Malin yells out of the blue.

"Patience, Malin. Eventually, something good will happen!" Kasumi answers from the kitchen.

"But we need to get a new teammate; in case, another King of Fighters tournament is promoted!"

"Maybe we should get some fresh air…"

Malin opens a window and gestures Kasumi to look at it.

"…Let me try again. Maybe we should go for a walk…" Kasumi stands up.

"A walk won't help!"

"Malin, just get a few things. We're going to have a walk through the park."

Malin sighs and stuffs two sandwiches, two bottles of water, and two books into her bag.

Kasumi pours some green tea into a thermos and takes the thermos with her.

"Let's go…" Malin says in an annoyed manner as they leave.

* * *

"Nice…" Akira says to himself as he peers into the endless hallways. "_Which way is it to the dining area?!_" 

"So, you still need my help?" a voice says behind him.

"WAA!!!" Akira jumps forward and turns to see that it was just Megumi.

"This way," Megumi titters and walks away.

"Ah! Ma-mattekudasai, Megumi-chan!" Akira yells as he follows Megumi.

"Please hurry, Harima-sama!" Megumi turns and says in a cute way.

"Huh?" Akira glances into Megumi's eyes.

She realizes what she has done and quickly turns back then answers, "Excuse me. Please hurry, Harima-sama…"

"Aa, I am!" Akira yells out in an angry, yet restrained voice.

Megumi tries to ignore him and continues walking to guide Akira to the dining area.

"…So, it has been five days since we moved in, huh?" Akira whispers to himself. "In just five days, so many things have happened!"

* * *

"Kreis!" Adelheid slides forward with a slashing kick. 

Some robots trip from the attack.

Before the robots could fall, Adelheid hops and knees one robot. "Grosse Kreis!" He performs another circular slashing kick.

The affected robots instantly explode from the kick.

"Gah!" Adelheid is sent to the wall due to the explosion and crashes against it.

The robots stalk the cornered Adelheid.

"It's impossible!" Adelheid gets up and runs into the group of robots.

* * *

Malin and Kasumi sit on the grass of the park to cool off some stress, after Eiji's resigning from the Anti-Kyokugenryu team. It was going well, until… 

"…Damn that Eiji!" Malin yells out for the forty-seventh time (not an exaggeration).

"Must you constantly do that?! Every time you ease up for a bit, you instantly yell that out!" in a voice louder than Malin's, Kasumi scolds Malin.

"Kasumi! Why aren't you pissed?!"

"I am, but I am handling this matter in a restraint and mature way!"

Malin fills her cheeks with air and glares at Kasumi, until Malin's stomach growls. "Oops! That was embarrassing!"

"I'm feeling a little hungry myself! May I have one of those sandwiches you have packed in your bag?"

In an un-amused way, Malin stares at Kasumi.

"Well?"

"No, since you just finished drinking your body weight in green tea!"

"HEY!"

"I'm just kidding! Here," Malin laughs and hands Kasumi a sandwich.

* * *

Megumi and Akira pass by a bust of Adelheid. 

"_Hey! Isn't this where…_" Akira begins to reminiscence.

"Adel-san, I have an idea!" Akira shouts to Adelheid.

"What is it?" Adelheid asks.

"I believe we should add a few more rooms to the Sky Noah, while we're waiting for the fuel!"

"Remodel…the Sky Noah?"

"Of course!"

"I have nothing to do with this!" Ayumi whispers to Adelheid.

"We could add a cafè, a library, a theater, a…" Akira continues jabbering about random things to add to the Sky Noah.

"…I am in no way really related to him!" Ayumi whispers to Adelheid.

"I thought you two were siblings," Adelheid whispers back.

"Well…, we don't have the same last names, now, do we?"

"...A pool table, a ping-pong table, a tennis court…" Akira still continues jabbering a lot of nonsense.

"…Well…, I'm gonna go spend some time with Rose-chan. Have fun with my brother!" Ayumi informs Adelheid and leaves, but not before realizing her mistake, "…Oops!"

Adelheid quickly turns to Ayumi and yells in a whisper (weird, huh?), "What was that?!"

"Oh! Look! Rose-chan is calling me!" Ayumi slowly sidesteps away from Adelheid and makes a run for it.

"…_Andrews-san!_" Adelheid yells in his mind and turns back to Akira, who somehow has not noticed that Adelheid and Ayumi had been trying to ignore him.

Akira continues until, "…A parking area—"

Adelheid interrupts, "I understand some of the things we may add to the Sky Noah, but why must we add a parking area?"

"To park cars!"

Adelheid looks at Akira with a shocked stare and continues, "That is not what I meant."

"A parking area, huh? That reminds me! We should also put in a water park with the swimming pool!" Akira points upwards.

* * *

"Konprinz! Konprinz! Konprinz!" Adelheid shoots Kinship Fire after Kinship Fire against ever robot. 

One of the robots uses a reflector and reflects the attack back at Adelheid.

Adelheid tries to block it but is kicked from behind by a robot. As a result, he takes the full damage of his attack. "_Quite the blunder…_" Adelheid comments as he gets up.

Other robots shoot more white balls of energy and ground level shots of energy at the weakened Adelheid.

"_It's useless…_Grosse Wand!" Adelheid uses his barrier once again to reflect the attacks of the robots.

More robots appear and use reflectors at the reflected attacks.

Adelheid blocks again but is pushed back to a wall. "_…Tough_"

* * *

Still at the park and under a tree, Kasumi sleeps, and Malin contemplates on who should be recruited into the Anti-Kyokugenryu Team. 

"…This is so hard!" Malin yells out but quickly covers her mouth, since she remembers the sleeping Kasumi. Malin sighs, "But who can join us? Eiji is the only other person here that obsessively talks about destroying the Kyokugenryu dojo…and specifically that Yuri!" After a brief pause, she yells silently, "That damned Eiji! _Heh! Kasumi can't get mad at me, since I've only said that once today! Heh heheh…_" After that, she lies down and snickers a bit.

"Ara? Malin-chan?" a voice near from behind the tree asks.

Malin gets up and looks behind the tree and finds a girl with long blonde and brown eyes (and two bodyguards near her). "Hinako-chan!"

"Malin-chan, what were you laughing about?" Hinako asks.

"Oh, nothing important! How have you been?"

"I have been very well. How is Kasumi?"

Malin points at the innocently sleeping Kasumi.

"She seems to be well."

Malin gives a "beats me" shrug and says, "She's just very 'mature'!"

"Hm…what of Kisaragi-san?"

Something snapped inside Malin, causing her to scream out, "**THAT DAMNED EIJI!!!**"

"I am guessing that something unfortunate has happened…"

"HELL YES! The guy went and left our team! Total abandonment!"

"Did you…have to scream that out to the world?!" Kasumi groggily gets up.

"**YES!**"

"Konnichiwa, Hinako, _(Good afternoon, Hinako.)_" Kasumi greets Hinako.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Kasumi-san! _(Good morning, Kasumi-san!)_" Hinako jokes to Kasumi.

"I have to get a new member to join the group! Otherwise…" Malin contemplates aloud.

"Hinako, are you busy from now to the next four months?" Kasumi asks.

"Why, no! Why do you ask?" Hinako replies.

"Hinako, would you like to join the our team?" Kasumi offers.

"Why, I would love to!" Hinako accepts then sees Malin pacing quite a bit. "Malin-chan?"

"What?!" Malin yells. Apparently, she is oblivious to the fact that she had just yelled at her new teammate.

"Hinako has decided to join our team!" Kasumi explains.

"What?! Really?!" Malin is overjoyed and jumps behind Hinako to hug her.

"Someone is trying to assault Shijou-sama!" a bodyguard yells.

"Code Yellow! Code Yellow!" the other bodyguard responds.

"Wha?" Malin cluelessly asks as the two bodyguards grab her after prying her off Hinako.

"Oh! It is all right! She is one of my closest friends!" Hinako explains to her bodyguards.

"Understood! Our deepest apologies, Shijou-sama!" the bodyguards not-so-gently drop Malin.

Malin gets up and prepares to take out a knife, "Ow! Bast—"

"It is all right, Malin. They were just thinking of my safety!" Hinako explains.

"Why the hell would you need protection?! You are perfectly safe on your own with that sumo of yours!" Malin snaps back.

* * *

"So…, um, I've been curious…How long have you been working for Adel-san?" Akira asks Megumi as they continue to make their way to the dining area. 

"Not long enough…Er, about two years…when I was fifteen," Megumi explains.

"When you were…fifteen? Ah, how did you get here anyway?"

"Bernstein-sama basically hires anyone looking for a job. I, however, was kidnapped and was forced to work for 'The Organization'." Megumi pauses then continues, "He saved me by defeating 'The Organization' and absorbing it into his businesses." Megumi blushes slightly.

"_So, she must owe Adel-san everything…_" Akira wonders as they continue walking. "_I remember when he decided to help me fight better. Even though I was a bad student, he never gave up on me. So, I owe him, as well…_"

At the training room, Adelheid teaches Akira some of his moves. Adelheid stands beside Akira to try to ensure that neither of them would get injured during the training.

"The White Barrier can only be performed with a hardened stance," Adelheid explains beside Akira.

"Hai!" Akira does what Adelheid says.

"Now, focus your energy into your right hand," Adelheid continues.

"Hai!" Akira begins to focus some energy into his right hand.

"Now, lean forward and create the White Barrier. Grosse Wand!" Adelheid creates a white-gray barrier from his hand.

"Hai! White Barrier!" Akira tries to attempt it but leans too much and…

"KKOOO!!!" a wall is critically dented from his attack.

"Huh?! I'm sorry, Adel-san!" Akira bows to Adelheid.

"Try to lean only slightly. If you lean too far forward, the rampart energy will result in a random projectile."

"H-hai!"

"Now, try again."

"Mmm……White Barrier!" Akira's attempt results in a very small red barrier.

"…Try again, and don't be afraid…"

"H-hai! Yoo……White Barrier!" Akira forms a black-red barrier about the size of Adelheid's barrier.

"Good…Now, we shall move on."

"…_Why was my barrier red and black?_"

"The Kaiser Bolt requires you to spread your arms out. When seen from behind or in front, your enemy will see a cross," Adelheid does what he says.

"Ah, hai!" Akira follows.

"Now, gather all your energy into your hands," as Adelheid explains this, his hands glow white and gray.

"Hai!" he gathers energy, and his hands glow red and black.

"…_Strange…_" Adelheid thinks after having seen Akira's glowing hands. "Now, pull your arms further back."

"H-hai!" Akira tries to pull back as much as he can.

"Now hold that position."

"K-k-hai! _I think my arms are going to break off!_"

"Now, bend forward, quickly swing your arms forward, and bend back! Grosse Konprinz!" Adelheid shoots a huge wave of energy.

"H-hai!" Akira tries to do so, but…

"Harima-san, are you okay?" Adelheid says as he sees that Akira has fallen face-first to the floor.

"I…think I pulled a muscle while I was trying to bend my arms back…" Akira explains with a muffled voice.

"…That is all for the day then," Adelheid pulls Akira to his feet.

Akira has his right hand squeeze his left shoulder, "_There goes my left arm…_"

"Hurry up! Andrews-san told us that she would be preparing dinner. It would be rude to be late!" Adelheid says as he exits the room.

"Ah, matte!" Akira runs after Adelheid.

* * *

"Alright!" Malin runs through the park. 

"She seems to be recovering well!" Hinako comments to Kasumi.

"Because we have a full team now!" Kasumi explains.

"Where is she going?"

"Huh?" Kasumi looks and sees Malin buying ice cream from the ice cream man.

"Quite cute!" Hinako titters.

"Selfishness is what that is!" Kasumi giggles.

"Oh! Look! Here she comes now!"

"Here you go!" Malin gives each of them a popsicle.

"Thank you, Malin-chan!" Hinako accepts.

"You're not that selfish, after all!" Kasumi takes one.

Malin proceeds to lick her popsicle until she notices the way her friends were eating their popsicles. She smirks and says, "Guys, Malin-chan just remembered a joke!"

"What is it?" Hinako asks as she takes a bite of her popsicle.

Malin begins, "Here's how it goes: a teacher asks her students, 'If there are five birds perching on a fence and one was shot down by a gun, how many are left?'"

"Four," Kasumi says then continues eating her ice cream.

"A student answers, 'None, because the rest would fly away!'"

"True!" Hinako comments to Malin.

"The teacher replies, 'Well, the answer is four, but I like the way you think!'"

"Interesting…what's the joke?" Kasumi asks.

"I'm getting there. Another student asks the teacher, 'I have a question for you ma'am! There are three women in the ice cream shop. One was licking her ice cream. Another was biting her cone. The third one was sucking hers. Which one is married?'"

"I don't see the relation…" Hinako says.

"The teacher answers, 'I guess, the one sucking her ice cream.'"

"Weird…" Kasumi comments to the joke.

Malin snickers then continues, "The student replies, 'No, the one with the wedding ring on her finger, but I like the way you think!'"

"That was funny, though slightly perverted," Hinako replies.

"Guys, look at the people in front of you!" Malin grins.

Hinako and Kasumi notice that Malin is licking her popsicle, Hinako is biting hers, and Kasumi is—

Kasumi quickly takes her popsicle out of her mouth and explodes, "**MALIN! THAT IS NOT FUNNY, AND I'M NOT MARRIED!**"

"AHAHAHAHA!" Malin could barely contain her laughter.

* * *

All the robots return to their compartments, leaving Adelheid with bruises and cuts. 

"Sir, are you alright?" Reno calls from the speakers.

"Why? Why did you stop them?" Adelheid kneels.

"Sir, if we had continued, you may have died…"

"…I…have lost…"

"Sir, is there something wrong?"

"I am fine!" Adelheid snaps back, as he limps to the door.

"Sir, you should go to the infirmary to get those wounds treated!"

"I shall be fine in my quarters!" Adelheid leaves the room and heads to his room.

"Bernstein-sama…"

* * *

Megumi and Akira finally reach the dining area. 

"Sweet! I thought that we would die from having to wander around the Sky Noah all day!" Akira sighs and runs to his seat.

"Good luck, A— Harima-sama," Megumi leaves Akira with the other masters.

"Good morning, Akira-san," Rose smiles.

"Ah! Ohayou, Akira-kun!" Ayumi greets.

"Hah!" Akira pauses for a while, as if her were expecting someone else to greet. "…Adel-san?" Akira turns to find that Adelheid is not at the head of the table, or at the dining area for that matter.

"Um, Akira-kun, Adel-san said that he would be having his breakfast in his room," Ayumi explains.

"Huh? Why?"

"Onii-sama is recovering from having been defeated by a bunch of training robots!" Rose crosses her arms and lifts her chin up. "Honestly, to be defeated by a bunch of nuts and bolts is just—!"

"…_What kind of sister are you?_" Akira glares at Rose. "So…he's beating himself up for that?"

"He may plan to do something drastic," Ayumi explains.

"Like what? Commit suicide?" Akira says sarcastically.

"He would commit suicide?!?" Rose does not see the sarcasm.

"What?!" Akira does not see that Rose was asking.

"This would be a bad thing!" not seeing Akira's being sarcastic and Rose's asking a question, Ayumi yells.

"What will we do?!" Rose actually loses her cool.

"I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" Ayumi repeats over and over.

"…I got it!" Akira yells spontaneously.

"What is it!?" Rose and Ayumi yell in unison.

"Let's make tonight's dinner be a celebrative banquet to raise his spirits!" Akira suggests.

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" Rose snaps at Akira.

"…Let's do it!" Ayumi bursts out.

"Ayumi-nee-san, you must be joking!" Rose says in disbelief.

"Nee-san, you and Rose-chan rally up help from all hands. I will go buy sweets, spicy foods, and any other thing that I can think of! Rose-chan, may I borrow your credit card?" Akira says somewhat quickly.

"Here…" Rose hands Akira her credit card.

"Ikumasho! Boku! _(Go! Me!)_" Akira swipes Roses credit card and dashes away.

"Oh!" Rose blurts out.

"What's wrong?!" Ayumi asks in concern.

"I just remembered that we have almost all kinds of food with us in the galley!" Rose explains.

"…So…what you're telling me is…"

"He left on a pointless mission…"

"Nani sore?! _(What the?!)_"

* * *

Malin and company walk around the urban area of Angens. 

"Let's go eat somewhere! It's already like 10:00, right?" Malin says out of the blue.

"What your telling me is…we took Hinako's limo here **just to eat?!**" Kasumi explodes.

"Of course not!" Malin pauses for about a minute. "Of course not! I'm going to go look for…for…"

Kasumi face read: "_If you have a bad reason, I'm going to kill you!_"

"…for…Ah! For someone to treat us to lunch!" Malin managed to get out.

Kasumi takes a kendo stick from out of nowhere and yells, "**TIME TO DIE!**"

"Kasumi, I thought you are an aikido expert, not a kendo expert!" Hinako quickly gets between a scared Malin and a demonic Kasumi.

"…I don't think a wooden knife is strong enough to hurt someone that much!" Kasumi replies with immeasurable wrath.

"But come now, it would be inappropriate for someone like you to be using a kendo stick! It makes you look…not so slim," Hinako adds.

Malin stares at the two then notices that Hinako is trying to be a distraction for Malin to escape. "_Sankyu, Hinako-chan! (Thanks, Hinako-chan)_" Malin says as she slips away.

"Well, if that's the case…" Malin hears Kasumi's furious voice fade away.

"Well! I'm really lucky today!" Malin chuckles. "Now, where would be the best place to hide?" Malin looks around. "Oh! A 'restaurant' street?! Wow!" Malin runs to the street.

* * *

Outside the "restaurant" street of Angens, Akira can be seen carrying many bags and packages, enough of them to block his vision. 

"Well, this is everything I need!" Akira gleefully tells himself. "…I think."

After about twenty seconds of walking, Akira realizes, "I forgot to find people to invite! _The banquet will be tonight, and I forgot to assign someone to invite more people to the banquet! Only inviting all the hands of the ship would be monotonous! Adel-san knows all of them! I need to invite someone he—_"

"I don't know where to eat!" Malin says to herself as she walks backwards to view the restaurants.

"Maybe, _I should invite the first person I meet!_" Akira continues to walk aimlessly. "_That is idiotically stupid! I need to know the person before I can invite the person!_"

"Hmm…_I wonder if I can find someone to mooch off of,_" Malin continues walking backwards and quickly notices Kasumi sprinting towards her with a bloody intent. Malin turns around to run, "Oh, sh— OW!!!"

"WAA!!! It's falling!" Akira yells as the packages are about to fall out of balance.

_**MARK OF THE GENOCIDER 2**_

"Hold on!" Malin pushes sum of the packages to stop them from falling. "You okay?"

"Arigatou gozaimasu! _(Thank you!)_" Akira manages to say. "However…, I can't move…"

Malin sees that the positioning of the packages is so unstable, that the slightest movement could make them fall. "Maybe…WAAH!"

"You should be saying your prayers!" Kasumi grabs Malin's shoulder.

"A-a-a-a-a-a—" Malin could not utter a single word out.

"Ojou-san, could you please grab a few packages for me!" Akira asks, oblivious to what is happening.

"I-uh…" something clicks in Malin's mind. "Sure!" She casually takes Kasumi's hand off her right shoulder and proceeds to help Akira.

"What's going on?" Kasumi asks in a curious and confused tone.

"I made it!" Hinako pants and tries to catch her breath. Apparently, she has been running after Kasumi to make sure she does not get Malin hurt.

"I'm helping this guy with his stuff!" Malin pats the stack of packages, which, as a result, begins to fall.

"Ojou-san! _(Miss!)_" Akira yelps.

"WA! I got it!" Malin says as she catches the falling packages. "See!"

"Um, thanks for helping!" Akira thanks her, although he has no idea what she looks like.

"No problem!" Malin responds.

"Um…as a…token of my gratitude, may I treat you to lunch?" Akira says shyly.

Kasumi's jaw drops, and Hinako sighs in relief.

"Wow! Really!" Malin's eyes sparkles.

"Yes. By the way, I should introduce myself," Akira lays the packages on the ground. "Boku no namae wa Harima Akira desu. Yoroshiku onegashimasu! _(My name is Harima Akira. It's a pleasure to meet you!)_"

Malin does the same. "Malin-chan. Yoroshiku ne, Akira-kun! _(Nice ta meet'cha, Akira-kun!)_" Malin greets back.

"WA-WA-WA! _Ka-ka-kawaii onna no ko!_ _Ojisuke! Okisuke! Ojisuke! (C-c-cute girl! Calm down! Calm down! Calm down!) Think of something to reply before she thinks you are some insane lunatic!_" Akira yells in his mind.

She then points to her two friends. "The one with a big mouth is Todoh Kasumi-chan. The one who looks like she's about to pass out is Shijou Hinako-chan!"

"Yo.ro.shi.ku.o.ne.ga.shi.ma.su, _(Nice.to.meet.you)_" Hinako manages to pant out.

"Yoroshiku, _(It's a pleasure)_" Kasumi greets, after having recomposed herself.

"So…So…So…" Akira seems to have the ability to say only one word.

Malin turns to talk to her friends.

At that instant, Akira slaps himself and manages to be able to talk almost normally. "So, where may we go eat, Malin-san?"

Malin points towards Akira.

Akira turns around and asks, "McDonald's?"

"Yep! It's okay, right?" Malin smirks at Akira.

"WA!" Akira jumps back. "YES, IT IS!" Akira quickly takes some of the packages and bags then rushes inside the restaurant. Amazingly, the content of the bags do not fall out.

"What an interesting person!" Hinako finally stops panting and comments.

"Free food, here I come!" Malin takes some of the packages and bags then hurries inside.

"I'll take the rest," Kasumi takes the remaining package.

"Let's go, Kasumi," Hinako smiles, as they both enter the building.

Once inside, the two find Malin sitting at a table and texting on her cellphone, and Akira in line. Hinako and Kasumi proceed to the table.

"So, what did you order?" Kasumi asks as she takes her seat.

"I'm not done ordering yet!" Malin continues texting.

"May I ask who you are texting?" Hinako asks as she takes her seat beside Malin.

"I'm texting Akira-kun! He gave me his number so I don't have to go order myself. It's less of a hassle anyway, right?" Malin explains as she continues texting.

"In that case, please tell him to get me a hamburger, a large Coke, large fries, a chocolate sundae, and a salad," Hinako cheerfully asks.

"Hai! _(Okay!)_" Malin texts quickly then asks, "Kasumi, what do you want?"

"Uh, spaghetti, large fries, large Pepsi, and a McFlurry," Kasumi quickly answers.

"Can't you guys take more advantage from Akira-kun?!" Malin yells at the two.

"Why? How much have you ordered?" Kasumi asks and looks at the screen of Malin's cellphone. "YOU'RE JOKING!"

"What is it?" Hinako does the same, then asks in shock, "Would not that be cruel?"

"I say, 'Break out and don't hold back!' right?" Malin winks at the two.

"You're not seriously going to ask him to order all that, are you?" Kasumi asks in her semi-shocked state.

"It's alright! He won't mind!" Malin assures her then grins evilly. "_If he does get mad, I'll give him such an ass-whooping! If he doesn't…_I think he's nice…"

"You think he's nice?" Hinako asks.

"Whoa! I said that?" Malin says in shock.

"Yes…" Hinako answers.

"…SEND!" Malin sends her order to Akira after a not-so-brief pause.

"Huh? _Maybe it's Malin-san's order!_" Akira thinks as he takes his cellphone out.

Upon looking at the order, he sighs and smiles, "_It's a good thing she didn't order more than this!_"

Akira goes to the counter and tells the cashier the order.

"Huh?" Malin looks shocked from having seen Akira's expression.

"So, he's not shocked…" Kasumi comments. "_Now, this guy seems suspicious…_"

"…But Malin-chan seems to be!" Hinako finishes for Kasumi then titters. "_What a nice person!_"

"_What is wrong with this guy?!_" Malin yells in her mind. "_An order that huge should make a guy turn into a volcano and erupt! Right? RIGHT?!_"

"Malin, are you sure it is safe to be around this guy?" Kasumi asks in concern.

"I think he is quite sweet. He is kind of like a guy who would do anything for a girl he— Oh, my…" Hinako realizes.

"You think he likes me?!" Malin blurts out. As a result, almost every customer, guard, employee, and manager stares at her. Malin quickly covers her mouth with her hands.

"Probably, what else could it be?" Hinako continues.

"He must be some sort of pedophile!" Kasumi comments.

"I'm sixteen, and he is…" Malin tries to analyze.

Kasumi looks at Akira, who seems to be in a cheerful mood, "He appears to be seventeen, but he must believe that Malin is younger than she actually is."

"What do we do?!" Malin asks.

"For the time being, let's just observe him," Hinako suggests.

"If he does anything even remotely suspicious or suggestive, I will break his skull with my kendo stick!" Kasumi threatens the person who is not even within audible range of Kasumi's voice.

"_I am SO nervous!_" Akira thinks as he takes two trays to the table. "_Okay, Akira, just pray, play cool, and be cheerful!_" Akira thinks despite the fact that his heart is pounding faster than the speed of light.

"Uh, thanks…" Malin nervously says as Akira lays the trays on the table.

"_Stay calm…um…What's my NAME?!?_" Akira panics as he returns to the counter for two more trays, "_Oh, crud! I forgot my name! Okay, calm down…my name is…Akira! Right!_"

"Think he likes me?" Malin asks once Akira has his back turned then takes a sip of her Pepsi.

"Pedophile…" Kasumi glares at Akira.

"Hard to say," Hinako answers, "He appeared to be smiling, but it seems as though he was about to faint from nervousness."

"So, the pedophile likes her…" Kasumi says with flaming eyes of wrath.

"There is a possibility that he is not used to being around women…" Hinako explains then takes a few fries to her mouth.

"What kind of guy is that?!" Malin yells.

"The shy type," Hinako continues, "He would probably faint if he were to shake hands with someone who he thinks is cute."

"That makes him worse!" Kasumi states with holy wrath.

"Now, I feel flattered, since he thinks I'm cute!" Malin tries to smile.

"Here you go…" Akira lays two more trays on the table then oddly sidesteps away.

"But he's still a weird guy," Malin comments after watching Akira sidestepping away.

"Maybe, you hear him out," Hinako suggests, "…in addition to observing him."

"And I will bash him, if he does do something suspicious!" Kasumi adds.

"Last one! Malin-san, Kasumi-san, Hinako-san," Akira manages to make a smile, lays the remaining trays on the table, and takes his seat across from Malin.

"Sankyu! _(Thanks!)_" Malin says in a cheerful voice. "_I'll act normally so Hinako can correctly observe him!_"

"Arigatou gozaimasu, _(Thank you.)_" Hinako says politely. "_I know that Malin-chan will act normally, but the question is: 'Will Harima-san act normally?'_"

Kasumi glares at Akira. "_Try anything, and I'll kill you!_"

Akira proceeds to take some fries, but Malin grabs the fries he is about to take. "Oi!"

Malin stuffs the fries into her mouth.

"Wa— Those…were…mine…" Akira shyly reacts.

"_Huh? What's Malin-chan doing?_" Hinako asks herself.

"You want…them back?" Malin asks in-between chews.

"…No, thanks…" Akira answers and tries to get more fries.

"Sankyu! _(Thanks!)_" Malin grabs the fries Akira was about to take, again.

"Can't you…get your own fries?" Akira asks.

"I am! In this world, if you take too long to enjoy something, it will be taken away by birds!" Malin proudly states.

"Malin-chan, I think it is 'taken away as the birds.'" Hinako corrects Malin.

"Wrong. It is 'taken away from the birds.'" Kasumi corrects the two.

"Wrong, it's 'taken away as if by the birds.'" Akira corrects all three of them.

Kasumi gives a I-hate-smart-alecks-and-will-kill-them glare to Akira.

Akira quickly turns to Malin, in hopes that she could stop Kasumi. Instead, he sees Malin taking more of his food. "_You've got to be kidding me!_"

"_This seems quite interesting now!_" Hinako titters. "_From the looks of it he trusts Malin-chan the most!_"

"Malin-san…" Akira manages to say.

"Hai! _(Yes?)_" Malin answers as she eats. "_He's going to explode now! I'm sure of it!_"

"…Why…" Akira opens his mouth then pauses.

"Nani? _(What?)_" Malin asks in a cute way.

"…Sorry for being selfish, but…why do you take the food that I ordered for me?" Akira manages to ask.

"_Why am I doing this?_" Malin instantly realizes, "…Um, because this is a competition now! Survival of the fittest!_…Worst line ever!_"

"Sou desu ka, _(...Really?)_" Akira replies, then proceeds to unwrap a hamburger.

Malin tries to swipe it, "Malin-chan no— (Malin-chan's—)"

"Dame da! _(No way!)_" Akira drops the hamburger, then grabs both of Malin's hand.

For a brief moment, the two look into each others eyes and do nothing else.

"Etto… _(Ah…)_" Akira somehow says.

"Ano… _(Um…)_" Malin follows.

"HENTAI! _(PERVERT!)_" Kasumi takes out her kendo stick and bashes Akira's head.

"Ara! _(Oh, my!)_" Akira releases Malin's hands and falls off his seat.

"Kasumi-chan! That's overdoing it! Akira-kun could die from that!" Hinako blurts out as she gets up to check Akira.

"Ano… _(Um…)_" Malin is still oblivious to the world around her.

"Harima-san, daijoubu? _(Harima-san, are you alright?)_" Hinako observes Akira's semi-lifeless body. "Kasumi-chan! What have you done?!"

"Uh…I'm sorry?" Kasumi conceals her kendo stick somewhere.

Malin blinks and realizes that Akira has fallen off his seat, "Akira-kun!"

"HAI! _(YES?)_" Akira gets up and rubs his head. "Itetetete… _(Oww…)_"

"Harima-san!" Hinako gasps from seeing Akira get up so quickly after being hit in the head with a kendo stick.

"Kasumi-san, that was uncalled for!" Akira gets back to his seat and continues massaging his head.

"Gomen… _(Sorry…)_" Kasumi sarcastically apologizes with a pout.

"Ii desu. Boku wa— ITE— daijoubu… _(It's okay. I am— OW!— alright…)_" Akira replies, although he is somewhat dazed.

"Maybe we should call this lunch off!" Malin suggests.

"Eh? Doushite? _(Huh? Why?)_" Akira asks.

"I won't be held responsible for any injuries you attain from Kasumi-chan anymore."

"It's okay. Besides—" Akira answers then quickly realizes, "_I need to bring some guests to the banquet! Hmm…Malin-san seems interesting enough for me to invite. Hinako-san seems to be eccentric, so I should invite her. Kasumi, however, seems paranoid, but I think I should invite her…_"

"So…I think you should—" Malin continues to explain, although Akira has not heard a single thing Malin has said while he was deep in thought.

"I have an idea!" Akira spontaneously says.

"Huh?" Malin makes a clueless expression.

"Do you guys want to go to a mini-banquet with me tonight? Or rather, I'm kinda helping in preparing it," Akira asks in a somewhat confident way.

Malin, Kasumi, and Hinako all stare at him.

"…Did Kasumi-chan hit you in the head too hard?" Malin asks out of concern, "Because I think she may have given you a concussion…"

"Maybe, but I think it helped! I just remembered that I had to invite someone to the banquet!" Akira smiles. "So, can you come?"

Malin looks at her two friends to see if she should.

Hinako appears to say, "_Go ahead._"

Kasumi, however, appears to say, "_HELL NO!_"

Malin turns back to Akira and answers, "Um…sure…"

"Hontou no hontou ni arigatou gozaimasu! _(Thank you very very much!)_" Akira shakes both of Malin's hands. Two seconds later, he comes to his senses and realizes that he is shaking Malin's hands… "WAA! Gomen! Hontou no hontou ni gomenasai! _(Sorry! I'm really really sorry!)_" Akira apologizesand bows as he releases her hands.

"So, where will we meet?" Malin asks after watching Akira apologize for about five minutes.

"Ah, maybe here…at, um, 5:00 PM. Um, w-wear something formal…" Akira answers without making any eye contact to any of the three.

"Okay! It's a date!" Malin accepts the scheduled time.

"Wha?" Akira stands there. "_I think my heart just skipped aboyt three beats…_"

"Okay! We'll go back to Southtown and come back here as fast as we can!" Malin says cheerfully.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Kasumi asks snobbishly.

"Um, Malin-chan, Kasumi-chan, Harima-san," Hinako asks for the others' attention, "what about the remaining food?"

The three look at the table and see about $120 worth of fastfood left on it.

"Uh, you may take that…" Akira suggests, "I still have to bring all of the packages back home."

"Okay!" Malin cutely complies and dashes to the counter.

Hinako quickly sends a message from her cellphone, then asks Akira, "Harima-san, may I ask what the event for the banquet is?"

"Huh? Oh, it's to cheer a friend of mine up," Akira replies.

"You must be very loyal to your friend!"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Okay! I have all of the food!" Malin announces.

"So…Malin-san, will you be alright?" Akira asks. "_Why did I ask that?_"

"Of course!" Malin replies, then turns to Hinako. "Hinako-chan, ikimasu! _(Hinako-chan, let's go!)_"

"Ee," Hinako replies, "We shall see each other again later, Harima-san!"

"Ja ne, Akira-kun! _(Later, Akira-kun!)_" Malin greets. "Oh! And call me 'Malin-chan'! OK?"

"J-ja ne, Malin-sa—chan, _(L-later, Malin-sa—chan.)_" Akira greets back.

As Kasumi passes by Akira, she leers at Akira. Akira has a feeling that she is thinking, "_I don't trust you now, and I never will!_"

"_Kowaii! (Scary!)_" Akira comments to himself.

He watches the three leave. As he turns to take some of the packages and bags, he sees a note sticking on one of them. "Nani kore? _(What's this?)_"

He reads the note. It reads:

"Akira-kun, thanks for treating us!

I'm sure you'll be a fun person to be around!

Don't disappoint me!

—Malin-chan"

Akira blushes a little and turns to find Malin and the others are gone. "…Malin-chan…"

* * *

* * *

At the computer lab of Angen's Middle School.

"You're sure you're okay now?" Mick asks Aisha.

Aisha has a headband but it is actually some medical tape wrapped around her forehead. "Yeah! I'm fine!"

"Well, let's look for another funny interview..." Mick says as he scans through the files on his flashdisk.

"Can't you guys think of something more interesting to do than humiliate me?!" Kia yells off-screen. Apparently, she is the one handling the camera.

"How's about this one?" Mick double-clicks a file entitled "Andrews Ayumi."

"I hate you!" Kia yells. While that is happening, the screen shakes violently.

* * *

"So, Andrews-sempai, how are you today?" Kia asks Ayumi, who is seated on a couch. 

"Fine, but why is my seat a couch and Akira-kun's was a stool?" Ayumi asks curiously.

"Uh...whatever do you mean, Ayumi-sempai?" Kia asks as a visible bead of sweat flows by her cheek and drops from her chin.

"I recalled Akira-kun telling me that you had him sit on a short stool."

"Oh...Well..." Kia pauses to thing of something reasonable to say. "Um...guys stit on stools, and girls may sit on the couch?"

"Hm...Okay!"

"Now then Ayumi-sensei, what is your full name?"

"Andrews Ayumi."

"What is your age?"

"Eighteen. I'll be turning nineteen tomorrow! By the way, do you wanna come to my birthday party tomorrow? It'll be loads of fun!"

"Of course! Oh...wait. Tomorow is August 12— a Monday, right?"

"Yep."

"Sure! There's no way I would miss your birthday party! So where is it gonna be?"

"At my house!"

"All right! Um...do you still have a fear of clowns?"

"...Yes," Ayumi whispers.

"Oh! That's a good question! Why are you afraid of clowns?"

"Well, um...I rather not talk about it..."

"Come on! Maybe I could help you conquer your fear!"

"...Fine. After Mom and I left Japan to live in America and when I was eleven, Dad— the one Mom married after the divorce— brought us to a carnival. I was having fun with all the games, until a clown showed up. He looked so strange. At first he seemed so funny, until he tripped and knocked his joke teeth out of his mouth. I fell back in response to his falling down near me, and his joke teeth landed on top of me. It was chomping and chomping at the air, and I just stared at it. I had thought that it would come too close and bite me! The clown got up and said 'Oops. Sorry, kid.' Then he grabbed his joke teeth. To everyone else it seemed quite comical, but I was scared beyond rational thought! I...After that and when my parents pulled me away from the area, I cried so much! My parents didn't understand why I was crying, until I announced to them that I am scared of clowns. They have tried every possible way to get me to like clowns, from making me watch clown cartoons to even hiring clowns to my twelfth birthday party! I, however, could not seem to forget that day at the carnival."

"_That's it? I've heard of more traumatizing experiences than that!_ Well, don't you feel better now that you have talked about it?

"No..."

"Mm...Let's move on..."

"Please do!"

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask Akira-sempai when his birthday is. When is it?"

"December 20."

"WHAT! THAT CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS?!"

"Yep."

"So her gets presents twice, huh?"

"Well, yes, but he is kinda annoyed to get two gifts from one person in a period less than one week."

"So weird! If I were him, I would love to get a lot of presents shoved to my face!"

"If you say so."

"Oh, why does he seem to constantly be deep in thought?"

"No reason, I guess. If he were to reply quickly to what someone says, he might have to consider what he should say."

"One time while I was talking to him last year, he paused for so long that I was able to finish doing my homework!"

"It's possible to finish a book before he returns to the real world though!" Ayumi adds with a giggle.

"Probably! Moving on...What is your favorite food?"

"Um...Chicken soup, I guess." Ayumi shrugs.

"Chicken soup?" Kia raises an eyebrow.

"It's good for health and soul!"

"_I think you've been eating instant coffee again..._"

"Anything else?"

"Oh, yeah. Hobbies?"

"Shopping for random things, cooking, and playing with cats."

"Of course...I should have remembered. When you visited my place, you played with Sasha so much that we barely hung out!"

"Sorry about that!" Ayumi scratches her head.

"It's okay..."

"So...Do you still wear those pajamas with bunny prints?"

"WHAT?!"

"Do you or do you not? I'm just really curious."

"...Yes..."

"How cute!"

"Okay, enough questions about me! We should—"

"What about your cup size?"

"WHAAAAAT?!!!!"

"I'm just curious."

"Look here, Ayumi-sempai, I don't talk about things **that** personal if I am being captured on tape!"

"Oh. Okay, then..." Aumi lays bends her head forward and fakes a depressed expression.

"Do you have to make me feel guilty?!"

"What ever...do you mean?" Ayumi wipes non-existing tears from her eyes.

"...See you're doing it again!"

"I...don't know what you are talking about..." Ayumi covers her eyes.

"...Fine..." Kia says then mutters something after.

"What was that?"

"..." Kia mutters something again.

"Half B!" Kia finally yells out.

"Great! Now—"

"How's about we wrap up this interview before you exploit the rest of my sizes and my weight!"

"Sure!" Ayumi gets up and stretches, then turns to leave. "See you later, Kia-chan!"

"_Evil..._" Kia gets up and turns the camera off.

* * *

"Half B cup?" Mick looks towards the screen but slightly lower. 

"Stop staring, perv!" Kia's hand can be seen slapping Mick's face.

"OW! That was not needed!" Mick snaps back.

"You deserve it for being perverted!"

"You shouldn't be that harsh, Kia-chan!" Aisha scolds Kia.

"Who asked you! I don't enjoy being stared at!"

"But you enjoy being in front of the camera?" Mick comments as he rubs his cheek.

"That's different!" Kia yells and the screen is elevated lower and looks at the direction opposite of where Kia and the others were arguing.

"How is that different?! It's embarrassing to be in front of the camera!"

"I guess that separates the stars from the cameramen!"

"Okay, star, how's about you for once try to be sane and not go around slapping people?"

"I am who I am, and that is how I am!"

"This is getting us nowhere! Give me the camera!"

"No way!" Kia yells. As that happens, the camera's elevation rises and points downward. Due to the positioning and angle, the camera looks straight at Kia's chest.

"Give it!"

"No!"

"Kia-chan, maybe we should turn it off now," Aisha suggests as she giggles, then yelps in pain from the previous accident.

"Whatever," Kia turns the camera off, and the screen turns black.

* * *

Chapter 2 End

* * *

I ran out of creative Easter eggs for this chapter. I couldn't seem to find one that matches the scenarios of this chapter.

Oh, well. Review, review, please!

_Easter Eggs: Chicken Soup for the Soul_

_Update 1: This: I forgot to say that I am just assuming that Hinako's family is fabulously wealthy.__  
_


	3. Akira and the Pointless Banquet

The screen opens to reveal the baseball field of the Angen's Middle School.

"Yakkyu _(Baseball)_, the great American pasttime! Too bad everything here is owned by someone else..." Kia's voice is heard and the screen shows a baseball.

"Now?" Aisha can be heard whispering.

"YES, NOW!" Kia yells.

"Our school baseball team lost to the Southtown team in the last match...um..." Aisha abruptly stops. Apparently, they are doing an editted retake of their last news attempt.

"Well, here's the news! Our team SUCKS!" Kia moves the baseball away from the screen to reveal Kia and Aisha in cheerleader uniforms and holding pom-poms.

"But we could still cheer them on to do better next time, right? That's why we are in these to—" Aisha slightly shakes her pom-poms.

"NO! WE ARE NOT!" Kia yells so loudly, it would feel that the earth has shaken, "We're here to cheer on our football team!"

"Huh?" Aisha gives a quizzical look.

"I've given up on our football team!" Kia places her hands on her hips and turns away.

"But that's not nice!" Aisha yells.

"Who cares?! They lost to muscleheads! Intellectual and political abilities should win every time!" Kia turns to the camera and yells.

"Kia-chan, we're reporters! We're suppose to be neutral!" Aisha tries to convince Kia.

"My ass!"

"Um..." Aisha moves closer to the camera, "I'm sorry. My partner is still mad about getting a 92 in pre-algebra."

"WHAT?!" Kia turns red instantly.

"She wanted to keep her average at around an A, but now—"

"**WHY THE HELL DID YOU TELL OUR VIEWERS THAT?!**" Kia runs behind Aisha, grabs her cheeks, and stretches them.

"WAA!!! PLEASE STOP!" Aisha manages to cry out.

"THIS WILL TEACH YOU TO EMBARRASS ME IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA!!!" Kia continues to out stretch her cheeks.

"W-W-W-" Aisha whimpers. Tears begin to form on her eyes.

"Uh...Kia, please stop! CUT! CUT IT OUT!" Mick yells off-screen.

"HELL NO!" Kia continues torturing Aisha.

"STOP IT!" Mick jumps on Kia and knocks her down. In the process, he also knocks the camera down. Now all that left to see is static.

"PERVERT! LET GO OF MY SKIRT!" Kia can be heard yelling. Following that, a sound of a slap is heard.

"OW!" Mick can be heard yelping.

"OW! Um...we're having a few...a lot of disfunctional difficulties right now! Please come back later!" Aisha can be heard saying.

* * *

* * *

After a few hours at the White Forest, Akira can be seen cheerfully carrying his packages and bags back to the clearing, where the Sky Noah happens to be.

"Itadakimasu! _(I'm back!)_" Akira cheerfully approaches the entrance of the Sky Noah.

"Harima-sama, we shall manage the rest," a bearded man greets Akira, then he and a group of men take Akira's packages and bags into the Sky Noah.

"Arigatou! _(Thanks.)_" Akira thanks and enters the Sky Noah.

"Harima-sama, Bernstein-sama is requesting your presence," a girl's voice from the PA announces.

"Uh…Which Bernstein-sama?"

"Bernstein Rose-sama, she is requesting your presence at the living area."

"Arigatou _(Thanks)_," Akira quickly turns right into another hallway but returns to his previous position and asks, "Which way is the living area?"

"Problems again, Akira-k— Harima-sama?" Megumi giggles from behind Akira.

"WAA!!!" Akira screams in response and turns to Megumi, "Must you do that all the time?!"

"…My apologies, Harima-sama," Megumi bows then walks to the direction Akira is. "I shall guide you to the living area. Please follow me."

"Uh, Megumi-chan…" Akira follows her. "_Why does she insist on acting so…overly politely?_"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Hinako's limousine, Hinako is casually relaxing. Kasumi is trying to get that past incident out of her mind. Malin is enjoying a taste of Hinako's rich-lifestyle. 

"Kasumi-chan, are you still sulking about what happened at McDonald's?" Hinako asks.

"I think she is!" Malin comments as she lies on the very comfortable couch-like car seat.

"Uruse! _(Shut up!)_" Kasumi yells in response.

"Come on! You totally hated that guy! And for what reason?" Malin retorts.

"A person like that is not very trustworthy…" Kasumi replies.

"Harima-san seems very nice! Why can you not accept that?" Hinako asks.

"Because he has the look of a complete pervert!" Kasumi answers.

"As I said before, he looks more like the kind of person who would faint from shaking the hand of a girl…; or according to that experience, he would apologize for about five minutes…" Hinako considers.

"Kasumi, you hate every guy I hang out with, if he is around my age!" Malin pouts.

"It is only for your own protection! I see you as my little sister, and I do not want anything bad to happen to my younger siblings!" Kasumi retorts.

"Well, there is my mansion now," Hinako points towards a large golden gate that is normally in front of a famous abode, "Maybe I should have painted the gate white…"

"WOW!" Malin's eyes sparkle.

The gates open as if by magic, as the limo crosses through the gate. Soon, they reach a mansion that only millionaires (or better) could afford.

"THAT IS YOUR HOUSE!?!?!" Malin and Kasumi yell in unison and shock, as their faces are glued to the window.

* * *

Megumi and Akira enter the living area to see Rose, who is seated on a divinely decorated couch. On her lap, lies Prince, who is being petted by Rose. 

"Yo…Rose-chan…" Akira bows to Rose.

"You may leave now," Rose orders Megumi, who complies. "Akira-san, welcome back. May I have my credit card back now?!" Rose yells angrily but somehow keeps her cool and calm composure.

"Oh, yeah," Akira complies as he searches his right pants pocket. "Are?" he begins to sense as if something were wrong, as he searches through all his pockets.

"…Akira-san…" Rose is apparently not amused by his antics.

"Hold on for a minute!" Akira responds.

"Akira-san…" Rose responds in an annoyed tone.

"Oh! I remember now!" Akira takes his wallet out and finds Rose's credit card inside.

"Please return it to me now!"

"Um…here?" Akira hands the credit card back to Rose.

"Thank you."

"Um…what did you want to see me about? And where is Nee-san?"

"Oh! Ayumi-nee-san is assisting the servants with cooking and preparing for the dinner."

"Oh…"

"Actually, Ayumi-nee-san asked me to ask you something."

"And that would be…"

"'Did you have fun on your shopping spree to buy items that we already had in the Sky Noah?'"

"WHAT?!"

"I said, 'Did you have—'"

"I heard the first time! So I spent my morning doing something pointless?"

"Unless you had fun."

"…Oh, I remember! I invited three people whom I just met today to the banquet. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course! We must make sure Onii-sama will be happy about his guests, though."

"How- how has he been?"

"Onii-sama…went to the study after you left. He has yet to leave the study."

"What could he possibly be doing there?"

"I know not. You know, you could help Ayumi-nee-san right now, or you could flirt with the maids!"

"HEY!"

"It is so fun to tease!"

"_What kind of lady are you?!_"

* * *

Inside Hinako's huge mansion, a maid can be seen guiding Malin and Kasumi to what Hinako called 'her closet.' 

"Psst! Kasumi, why are we going to a closet?" Malin whispers to Kasumi.

"I don't know! Maybe it's because you had to open your big mouth and tell Hinako that you didn't have any formal wear!" Kasumi snaps back.

"Then, why are you coming with me?"

"Don't you remember? You went into a state of shock, which snapped out of very quickly. In replacement, you went into a state of admiration to all the expensive-looking things Hinako had on display in her mansion!"

"Oh, yeah…What does that have anything to do with your coming with me?"

"Hinako insisted that I go take a look and borrow a dress, if I liked one."

"Okay…A thought just popped up."

"What is it?"

"We should bring extra clothes with us…just in case we get Hinako's dresses dirty."

"Good idea! It would be very embarrassing to walk around with food stains on your dress!"

"Unless your dress matches the color of the food stain!"

"True!"

* * *

At one of the hallways, Akira can be seen stomping as he wanders through the airship. Apparently, he is embarrassed and angry from Rose's teasing about his gestures to the maids were attempts at flirting. 

"_Rose-chan, that was plain evil!_" Akira screams in his head, actually angry for once.

"Something wrong, Akira— Harima-sama?" a voice from behind Akira asks.

"JII!!!" Akira jumps forward and turns around to see Megumi. "MUST YOU CONSTANTLY DO THAT?!?!"

"W-s-sorry, Harima-sama! It shall never happen again," Megumi bows to Akira as she apologizes.

In response, Akira realizes what he has done and apologizes himself, "N-no, I should be the one apologizing! That was rude and uncalled for!"

"It may not be in my place, but may I ask you something, Harima-sama?" Megumi tries to not make any eye contact as she asks.

"Yes?"

"Why do you treat us servants this way?"

"What way?"

"You are very polite to us. Servants are normally treated cruelly or at the very least ignored."

"You want me to ignore you?"

"No! I just want to know why you act that way."

"…May I ask you a question of my own first?"

"…Yes?"

"How does Adel-san treat his servants?"

"He treats them well but never sees us more than people under him."

"Are you so sure? Adel-san told me once that he treated his servants like friends."

"Huh?"

"Maybe, you were too focused on seeing Adel-san as a person you owe your life to, but he actually wants his servants to be well."

"So…why do you treat us like that?"

"I respect other living beings, women especially. I can get mad at people occasionally, but I have never had any hate or resentment towards anyone."

"Is…that…so?"

"Ee…"

* * *

Malin and Kasumi can be seen following one of Hinako's maids, until the maid asks them to stop and shows them a door. 

"Where does this lead?" Malin asks.

"That room probably has that closet Hinako told us to go to," Kasumi assumes.

"Malin-sama, Todah-sama, please enter the room," the maid opens the door for them.

"I'm in!" Malin runs inside and stops due to being shocked beyond words.

"Malin, what's inside?" Kasumi follows Malin and is shocked as well.

The huge room was filled with almost all kinds of clothes of any occasion— Sunday dresses, formal wear, semi-formal wear, beach wear, and many others.

Malin and Kasumi are still stunned.

* * *

At what appears to be a conference room, Akira and Megumi are talking about mostly random things. 

"So, what were you doing before you joined Bernstein-sama?" Megumi asks.

"Nothing, I guess," Akira answers, "I was mainly living with Nee-san and had no real ambition."

"I see."

"Whenever there is an anime convention or something of the sort, I usually attend them."

"Hmm…"

"I am an otaku, after all."

"I see."

"Enough about me…um…may I know more about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, I basically know only how you joined Adel-san, but I don't know anything else."

"Um…Is that an order?"

"Huh? No, why?"

"…Um…_He's not ordering me?_"

"So…"

"No…Sorry, Harima-sama…"

"Oh, well. Oh, sorry in advanced, but I'm gonna have to give you an order now."

"Yes?"

"I…order you to stop calling me 'Harima-sama.'"

"B-but what shall I call you?"

"Hm…'Harima-san,' 'Akira-san,' or 'Akira-kun.' Take your pick."

"…That is highly not recommended."

"I know, but calling me 'Harima-sama' is kind of embarrassing."

"…Harima-san…"

"_Thank goodness! Now, it's not as embarrassing!_"

* * *

In Hinako's "closet," Malin and Kasumi fervently dig through all the clothes to see which suits herself best for the banquet. 

"I love this one!" Malin shows Kasumi a long elegant formal sea-blue dress. Just about the only things that it would show are the shoulders and most of one's back.

"You're planning to wear that?" Kasumi asks Malin, then shows her a long beautiful formal ivory dress, which would show most of one's shoulders and back.

"Wow!" Malin gawks at the dress, then tries to swipe it from Kasumi's hands, "Lemme try that!"

"Sorry, Malin! I have my eyes on this baby!"

"Hmph!" Malin pouts. "Uu. What about this one?" Malin shows Kasumi a plain black dress.

"I don't think that would suit you!"

"Really?" Malin looks at the dress, "I think it looks okay…"

"Malin, here!" Kasumi shows her a long lovely flowing-like-the-wind pink dress that would show only the shoulders and upper back.

"I'll take it if there's one in a different color!"

"I'll look for one," Kasumi proceeds to check for one.

"Hm…" Malin looks around and spies a long pink breathtakingly beautiful formal purple dress, which would show one's shoulders and most of one's back and has a long slit for easy movement and more beauty.

"Malin, I can't seem to find one…" Kasumi informs Malin, then turns to Malin and shows her a lovely tan Sunday dress, "but I found this! I should ask Hinako if I could borrow this!"

"I found something!" Malin yells to Kasumi.

"What is it?"

"That!" Malin points to the purple dress.

"Beautiful!" Kasumi is somewhat hypnotized.

"Kasumi, I'll try it on!" Malin proceeds to take her blouse off.

"Uh…Huh? Fine you try it on! Hm…I should try this on!" Kasumi does the same.

* * *

Walking through another hallway, Akira and Megumi continue their conversation. 

"So, that's how I got this scar on my hand," Akira shows Megumi the back of his right hand.

"It's amazing how playing with scissors would produce a slice that big!" Megumi responds.

"Well, just about anything is possible!"

"I guess so…"

"_I'm really glad that I can talk to a girl almost 'normally' now! This morning, with Malin-chan, was almost a complete failure. However, I am glad that she encouraged me with that note she left me…Oh! I mustn't forget that I have to pick them up soon…Huh?_" Akira thinks then notices a child running towards them.

"Eh? Megumi-san, what are you doing with Harima-sama again?!" the child, who seems to be another maid and has short blonde hair and wide blue eyes, asks Megumi.

"Sara-chan," Megumi replies, "I am just helping Harima-san, um…'kill time.'"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were flirting with him!" Sara teases.

"Sara-chan!" Megumi un-amusedly glares at her.

"Besides, I know that you have a crush on him!" Sara laughs.

"I do not have a crush on him…" Megumi's tone negates the truth of what Sara said.

"Well, he—"

"Excuse me, Megumi-san, etto…Sara-chan, right?" Akira interrupts.

"Hai!" Sara raises her hands.

"Why are you two referring to me in the third person? I'm standing right here," Akira explains.

"Sowwy, Harima-sama!" Sara giggles.

"Ee…" Akira scratches his head. "Anyway, do you want to join our conversation?"

"Yay! I do! I do!" Sara jumps up and down.

"…_She seems to be similar like Aki…_How old are you?" Akira asks.

"I'm eight-and-a-half!" Sara raises nine fingers towards Akira's face.

"Excuse me, Harima-san," Megumi motions Akira to bring her his ear.

"Yes?"

"I must leave now," Megumi whispers.

"Huh? Why?" Akira whispers, as well.

"Because I do not enjoy being around Sara-chan. She is just too noisy sometimes."

"…Go ahead then. I'll hang out with Sara-chan for…" Akira checks his watch, "…one hour."

"All right," Megumi leaves.

"…She's so rude!" Sara instantly yells out the second Megumi is out of sight.

"Huh?" Akira responds.

"I mean— she didn't even say: 'See ya later' or 'Bye!' or anything like that!"

"_One hour, huh?_"

* * *

Meanwhile, Kasumi finishes putting on the tan Sunday dress. Malin, however… 

"Malin, what do you think?" Kasumi still admires the dress she is wearing.

"It looks good on you…" Malin almost pouts.

"What's wrong?" Kasumi turns to Malin, who is pouting in the purple dress, which happens to be too big for her and happens to slip off of her, "**…B-B-BWAHAHAHAHAH**"

"It's NOT **FUNNY**!" Malin yells against Kasumi's laughter.

"HAHA! Yes— HAHA— it is!" Kasumi wipes some tears of laughter from her eyes, "You should have at least suspected that dress to be too big for you!"

"Shut up! I'll just take this—".Malin notices that there is no point in taking the dress off the usual way, when she could just walk away, "Nevermind."

"HUM— Ahem, try this one on!" Kasumi shows Malin a baby-blue dress, the hem of which only passes one's knees.

"I guess I'll take that," Malin grabs the dress, "It has less restraint on my legs anyway…"

"I'll take that now. Thank you!" Kasumi takes the purple dress.

Malin sighs, "I hope this would look better on me!"

"Or it could be worse!" Kasumi proceeds to take off her tan dress.

"Thanks for nothing!" Malin snaps back.

* * *

Outside the Sky Noah, Akira and Sara continue their pointless conversation. 

"That's why I think Bernstein-chan is such a stuck up jerk!" Sara finishes explaining.

"_She's finally done?_" Akira rubs his eyes, then looks at his watch, "_Thirty minutes…_"

"So, I really think that I should consider pulling a prank on Bernstein-chan, just to show her who's boss!"

"Her, of course! Well, I'm done killing time! I have to hurry and change so I can go pick up…Malin-chan…" Akira suddenly quiets.

Sara snaps her fingers in front of Akira, "Harima-sama! Wake up!"

"I have an idea! Give Malin-chan and her friends some roses!"

"…Good idea!" Akira claps once.

"While you're at it, give me about one hundred— Where are you going?!" Sara yells at the running Akira.

"Yeah! I'll get some roses now! So, I'll have run! Bye-bye!" Akira runs into the Sky Noah.

"Weirdo big brother!" Sara sighs and strolls into the Sky Noah.

* * *

Outside the "closet," Hinako in a formal black dress asks her maid the whereabouts of the guests. 

"Shijou-sama, they are inside the closet," the maid answers.

"Thank you," Hinako opens the door and sees a mess of clothes on the floor of the closet.

"Hi, Hinako-chan!" Malin blushes with glee as she turns to Hinako and shows that the baby blue dress fits her well.

"Hello, Hinako," Kasumi smiles as she hugs the purple dress she is in.

"You…guys…made…a mess…" Hinako looks somewhat mad.

Malin and Kasumi quickly scan the room and find that it is a complete mess. Clothes hangers are all on the floor. Clothes are everywhere. The clothes that were neatly returned happen to be in the wrong section.

"Uh…gomenasai!" Malin and Kasumi bow to Hinako.

"…J-Just…let's go…" Hinako tries to suppress her anger and walks away.

"Right behind you!" Malin yells as she follows Hinako.

"We're still sorry!" Kasumi apologizes again and follows the two.

"Please have this room cleaned up," Hinako tells her maid.

"Of course, Shijou-sama," the maid bows to Hinako.

"Oh, and hurry up. We mustn't keep the driver or Harima-san waiting, shall we?" Hinako continues without even making eye contact to her friends.

"Malin-chan already apologized!" Malin whines to Hinako.

"Just hurry!" Hinako snaps again.

* * *

On the forest trail, Akira in a black tuxedo drives a white convertible to go return to Angens. The convertible appears to be a 2000 Toyota, with standard drive. On the passenger seat, three roses— one white, one red, and one pink— lay as separate "bouquets", as Akira put it. 

"I'm glad I had Adel-san remodel the Sky Noah a few days ago!" Akira says to himself to fill some sound to the lonely silence of the forest.

"I'm also glad that Rose-chan allowed me to borrow a sweet ride like this! Thank you, Rose-chan!" Akira yells again, as he takes a left at a fork.

Meanwhile, at the Sky Noah at Rose's bedroom…

"Achuu!" Rose sneezes.

"Bernstein-sama, are you catching a cold?" Aya asks Rose.

"Of course not! I'm just here reading and sneezed out of nowhere! There shall be no possibility of me to catch a cold, especially today!"

"Perhaps, someone is talking about you…"

"I'm not superstitious, but if I were, I believe that it would be Akira-san thanking me for the car, which he must never lay a scratch on!"

Back to Akira…

"A-A-ATCHUU!!!" Akira sneezes. Due to the sneeze, Akira took his eyes off the path for a second. As a result, he is on a collision course to an old oak tree!

"WAAAA!!!" Akira made a hard right and misses the oak.

"I have got to be more careful next time; otherwise, it'll be the death of me!" Akira warns himself, as he breathes heavily from that near future-death experience. Akira checks the passenger seat and is relieved to see that the roses have not flown off during the sharp turn. Akira sighs, then looks at the rearview mirror and sees a shadowy figure sitting in the back seat.

"Sorry, I'm not gonna die just yet…" Akira forces a smile, despite his sweating up buckets.

"Whatever," the shadow hisses, then disappears.

"Now, he's after me!" Akira sighs, "If Rose-chan ever finds out about that near crash, she'd kill me! …Or at least have Adel-san kill me!"

Akira recalls what the reason for the banquet is and puts the pedal to the metal! "**…HAYAKU IITEKURU!!!**"

* * *

Inside Hinako's limousine, the three are riding back to meet up with Akira. 

"Hinako-chan, Malin-chan apologized, so please don't get mad!" Malin tries to persuade Hinako into forgiving them for the eightieth time.

"I've already forgiven you two. I'm just disgusted at your behaviors an hour ago!" Hinako replies in a stern tone.

"We promise that we won't do such a thing again," Kasumi responds.

"Well, fine. I'll just monitor you guys for about the rest of your lives!" Hinako jokes.

"That wouldn't be nice!" Malin giggles and softly punches Hinako's shoulder.

"How would you monitor us, anyway?" Kasumi asks.

"I would have my people keep tabs on you!" Hinako jokes again.

"No guys, okay?" Malin giggles.

"Okay!" Hinako giggles, then sighs.

A moment of silence occurs.

Malin breaks the silence by asking, "So, what's with the white glove-things?"

Hinako explains, "These? These just make me seem more…"

"Sexy?" Kasumi finishes for her.

"Huh?" Hinako seems surprised.

"Are you hoping that you will find someone at the mini-banquet?" Malin with a sinister grin lightly elbows Hinako.

"Of course not!" Hinako returns.

"Anyway, may I have a pair of those too?" Malin asks.

"I, as well…" Kasumi asks.

"Um, sure. It's a good thing I have spare gowns and dresses in the limousine!" Hinako pushes a button on the door. Slowly, an array of clothes sets appear behind Hinako.

"…I'm…kinda freaked out that you have something like this inside a limo…" Malin stares at the clothes then at Hinako.

"Just take some and wear them before we arrive at McDonald's," Hinako advises her friends.

"OK!" Malin helps herself to a pair of fitting gloves that extend to the underarm.

* * *

Akira finally arrives at McDonald's and waits for the three girls. However, he is looking forward to seeing Malin again. Akira looks ahead and sees a white limousine heading towards his direction. 

"WE'RE FINALLY HERE!" Malin yells with glee.

"Look over there," Hinako looks out to see a white car parked in front of McDonald's.

"Wow! Who's that handsome-looking guy?" Malin looks through the window.

"He does seem to look very professional and handsome," even Kasumi agrees.

"_A rich guy lives here? He probably has snobby kids that are worse that Rose-chan,_" Akira thinks as he watches the limousine stop in front of him. "_Probably has kids that love McDonald's, too._"

MARK OF THE GENOCIDER 3

"_Hm…Maybe, they are fashionably late?_" Akira thinks as he waits.

"Kasumi, go talk to him! He might be your type!" Malin pushes Kasumi out of the limousine.

"All right, already!" Kasumi proceeds to walk by the white convertible.

"Shouldn't we be looking out for Harima-san?" Hinako asks Malin.

"We're just waiting for him right now, remember?" Malin answers.

Akira is surprised to see such a beautiful and gentle lady appear from out of the limousine, "_Uh…kirei!_"

"Um, hi?" Kasumi tries to talk to the driver of the convertible, as she leans on the passenger side's car door.

"G-Good evening, Miss…" Akira manages to say to the beautiful lady.

"Um…" Kasumi apparently has nothing else to say.

"Ah…" Akira tries to think of something to say.

"This is getting boring!" Malin complains to Hinako.

"I don't think this will end well…" Hinako comments.

"HEY! KASUMI-CHAN, GET ASKED OUT ALREADY!!!" Malin yells so loudly that everyone within a two-mile radius could clearly hear what she has yelled.

"Kasumi? Todoh Kasumi?" Akira looks closely at the lady's face and finds that she really is Kasumi.

"A-Are you…_PLEASE DON'T BE_…Harima Akira?" Kasumi steps back, then asks the driver, whom she finally suspects to be Akira.

"Y-Y-Yes…!" Akira answers.

Still inside the limousine, Malin and Hinako have yet to realize that the driver of the convertible is Akira.

"Wow! Something is finally happening!" Malin grins.

"Are you sure, if that is a good thing?" Hinako asks Malin.

"Yeah, it is!" Malin replies.

"Um…where are the others?" Akira blushes slightly, but the darkness hides it.

"In Hinako's limousine…" with her thumb, Kasumi points to the limousine.

"Hinako's family owns a limo?!"

"Yes…and if you are thinking of taking advantage of her wealth, you have another kendo beating waiting for you!"

"I already have someone else's 'wealth to take advantage of', as you put it…"

"Whatever…"

"…Shouldn't we get Malin-chan and Hinako-san over here?"

"You're right…" Kasumi sighs and signals Malin and Hinako to get out of the limousine.

"Huh?" Malin says, as she gets out of the limousine.

"It's Akira-san!" Kasumi yells to the two.

"Harima-san?" Hinako exits, as well.

"Etto…konban wa! _(Um...Good evening!)_" Akira waves to Malin and Hinako.

"Akira-kun! Shotgun!" Malin runs to the passenger side and somehow manages to jump onto the seat.

"CHI!" Akira grabs the three roses before they get crushed under Malin or before Malin gets hurt from the thorns.

"Tell Father and Mother that I may be gone for a while," Hinako whispers to her driver.

"I'll take the seat behind the pervert…" Kasumi takes her seat.

"Wait for me!" Hinako hurries to the seat beside Kasumi.

Akira is still stunned to be surrounded by so many beauties. "That really suits you, Malin-chan," Akira thinks.

"What was that?" Malin asks.

"Huh?"

"I heard you say my name!"

Akira realizes that he has been thinking aloud again. "Uh, nothing! I'll start the car now!"

"Um…OK!"

"Don't think about doing anything you'll regret!" with demonic eyes, Kasumi warns Akira.

"I wouldn't think at all!" Akira backs the car up too quickly and almost hits a lamppost but hits the brakes just in time.

"BAKA! _(IDIOT!)_" Kasumi thumps Akira.

"Sumimasen! _(Sorry!)_" Akira responds and turns the car around.

After ten minutes of driving, they finally enter the forest.

"Um…what are the other bags for?" Akira finally asks about the plastic bags the girls brought with them.

"Extra clothes!" Malin answers.

"…W-Why?" Akira shyly asks.

"We might get these dresses stained or something…It would be embarrassing to walk around with food stains on your clothes!" Malin explains.

"I see…Well, we're almost…there now…" Akira tells the three.

"Here I come, food!" Malin yells to herself.

"Be careful, though," Akira warns her.

"You're up to something, aren't you, Akira-san?" Kasumi glares at the back of Akira's head.

"_She's glaring at me, with such a cold terrifying stare! I haven't even done anything wrong yet!_" Akira thinks as he drives.

"So, what are those roses for?" as an attempt to make Akira forget about Kasumi's glaring at him, Hinako points at the roses on his lap.

"Oh! I forgot!" Akira says as he keeps his eyes on the path, "A…friend of mine, I guess, suggested that I give you roses."

"A girl?" Malin asks as she picks up all the roses.

"…Yes…" Akira replies.

"She must love many colors, since you brought three different colors!" Hinako remarks.

"Actually, I…chose the roses…" Akira tries to say without cracking his voice.

"That's nice," Hinako responds.

"Kaumi-san, take the white rose…" Akira requests Kasumi, "_Purity..._"

"Fine," Kasumi says as Malin hands her the white rose.

"Hinako-san, take the red rose…" Akira requests Hinako, "_Heart..._"

"M-me?!" Hinako blushes as Malin hands her the rose and snickers.

"Don't worry. I don't believe that red roses represent 'love'," Akira explains.

"So, that leaves me with the pink rose, right?" Malin implies.

"Ee…_Priceless and Irreplacable..._" Akira takes a right turn and points towards the red craft, "There it is!"

"W-WHAT IS THAT?!" the three girls somehow say in unison.

"Adel-san's airship— the Sky Noah!" Akira announces as he enters the Sky Noah's new parking area.

In the parking area, many maids and butlers wait for Akira and his guests. "Welcome back, Harima-sama!" the maids and butlers say in unison, as the butlers bow and the maids curtsy.

"Okay…now this is getting weird!" Malin comments to the actions of the maids and the butlers.

"'Harima-sama'?" Hinako asks.

"That's embarrassing…" Akira scratches his head.

"That's just wrong!" Kasumi comments.

"Harima-sama!" a young voice originating from the direction of the elevator greets.

"That's…Sara-chan!" Akira says excitedly.

"Harima-sama!" Sara stops in front of Akira and curtsies.

"How old is she?!" Kasumi barks.

"Eight and a half…" Akira answers, "Right, Sara-chan?"

"Yep!" Sara raises her right hand.

"And she's a maid?!" Kasumi continues barking.

"Yes, but sometimes, I'm not entirely sure…" Akira admits.

Kasumi gives him a "what the hell" stare.

"Um…Sara-chan, your lines!" Akira whispers to Sara.

"Oh! Oops! Um…Good evening, guests of Harima Akira-sama!" Sara curtsies to the girls.

"I was right! Akira-san is a pedophile!" Kasumi whispers to Hinako.

"No comment," Hinako whispers back.

"My name is Raven Sara. I shall be your guide to the dining area," Sara says with false cheerfulness.

"Weird!" Malin whispers to Hinako.

"No comment," Hinako whispers back.

"Now, please follow me, as I shall now guide you to the dining area…" Sara turns around and slowly walks to the elevator.

"_I don't like seeing anyone like this!_" with his head down, Akira follows Sara.

Kasumi whispers to Hinako, "This is—"

"NO COMMENT! Am I the center of gossip here?" Hinako whispers then follows Akira.

Malin and Kasumi look at each other, then follow, as well.

Once they all arrive at the elevator, Sara lightly pushes the button labeled "5." The elevator door closes, and the elevator starts moving. After about twenty seconds, the elevator stops, and its doors open, revealing a series of hallways.

"Please follow me," Sara walks out of the elevator and turns left. The group follows her.

"She seems weird…" Malin comments to Akira.

"Well, when greeting and leading guests, maids and butlers have a code," Akira explains, "Mainly, they must not show any emotion for the time being, unless ordered to."

Malin replies, "Why don't you order her to—"

"Sorry, but no matter how much I want her to stop, today is the day Sara-chan's duty is scheduled. The code Adel-san gives is to stay like this unless, the maid or butler is friends or something to the all of the guests," Akira explains.

"We are here," Sara shows them two decorated doors.

"That was quick!" Malin comments.

"Please open the doors for Harima Akira-sama and his guests…" Sara requests the butlers. The butlers open the doors.

Hinako explains to Malin and Kasumi, "Please enter formally. Chin high. Posture correct…"

"OK!" the two respond.

At the table large enough for forty, many plates, bowls, and utensils lay. Rose stands behind the chair to the left hand of the master's chair. Ayumi stands behind the chair beside Rose's. Akira walks properly to the chair beside the right hand of the master's chair. Hinako and the others follow Akira and split up. Malin walks to the chair to the right hand of the master's chair. Kasumi walks to the chair beside Akira's. Like a proper lady, Hinako walks to the chair beside Ayumi's. After about fifteen seconds, Adelheid with tired eyes enters the room. He notices the new faces as he walks to the master's chair. Adelheid takes his seat, and the others follow after him.

"…Let's eat…" Adelheid says monotonously.

"Itadakimasu!" Akira, Ayumi, Malin, Kasumi, and Hinako greet.

The first part of the dinner is mainly vegetable dishes. Although Rose had protested in the past, Ayumi has convinced her to bear with it for the night.

"I hate this…" Rose whines.

"Don't be too mean to the food!" Ayumi scolds Rose.

Adelheid does not seem to care about what is happening.

"Akira-san, is that the friend you were talking to Hinako about earlier this afternoon?" Kasumi asks Akira.

"Ee…" Akira answers.

"He does look very…angry…" Kasumi whispers.

"I think it's depression. We have to make this banquet-dinner thing a success so that his spirits can go up again," Akira explains.

"I think the force of his emotion is choking me!" Malin shivers.

"Maybe…I should have been the one sitting there…" Akira responds.

"I don't see how a banquet would raise his spirits, at all!" Kasumi remarks.

"Well, Adel-san likes formal things, I guess…" Akira replies.

"…_BAKAna…(...Idiotic...)_" Kasumi mouths.

"Huh?" Akira feels his cellphone vibrating.

"Nothing!" Kasumi reacts, since she believes that she may have spoken.

"Hmm…_'Hu r dese guests of yrs?' It's from Nee-san…_" Akira reads a message from his cellphone.

"'_Ppl ive jst met 2day.'_" Akira replies.

"'_OK, wat r der names?''_" Akira reads.

"'_D blonde 1 nirest u s Shijou Hinako, a daughter of a rich family. D 1 2 my left s Malin. Dont tell her bt i think shes kinda cute. D last 1 s Todoh Kasumi. I think she h8s me! TT'_" Akira replies.

"'_OK, u rily invited any1 u cud find! BA-KA-na!'_" Akira read.

"'_NEE-SAN!!!'_" an annoyed Akira replies.

After everyone has finished eating the first course, the butlers and the maids put dishes of spice— Akira's personal favorites. Everyone is given the plates, he requests.

A plate of spicy chicken is placed in front of Adelheid. "_What is the occasion?_"

"_Sweet!_" Akira forms a fist and smirks, as a bowl of spicy yakisoba is placed in front of him.

"_Spicy!_" Malin stares at the bowl of gumbo.

"…You have finally peaked my curiosity, Harima-san," Adelheid finally speaks.

"Ee?" Akira still has some noodles in his mouth.

"What is all of this for? Today is nothing special, is it not? …And who are these people?" Adelheid with a stare that almost sees the soul looks at Akira.

"Ee— Naddegutasai…_(Weid a midit... [Wait a minute)_" Akira slurps up most of the bowl in one breath.

"Akira-kun…" Ayumi shakes her head in embarrassment.

"Etto…_(Um...)_ where do I begin?" Akira then stands, "I'll start with the introductions. Adel-san, this is Malin, a…person I met today…"

"Yoroshiku! _(Nice to meetcha!)_" Malin stands, then curtsies (somehow, that does not sound right…).

"This is Todoh Kasumi, a…um…interesting person! _DON'T KILL ME!_" Akira introduces Kasumi.

"Yoroshiku onegashimasu _(It's a pleasure)_," Kasumi stands, then bows.

"The last one is Shijou Hinako. If I recall correctly, she is wealthy but still a kind person," Akira introduces Hinako.

"Douzo yoroshiku onegashimasu _(It is a pleasure to meet you)_," Hinako stands, then curtsies.

"Guys, this is the owner of the airship, Bernstein Adelheid-sama," Akira introduces Adelheid.

"It's a pleasure…For what reason is this dinner?" Adelheid glares at Akira again.

"Well, this min-banquet-dinner thing is to boost your spirits!" Akira scratches his head.

"My spirits?" Adelheid asks.

"Yeah, so don't commit suicide!" Akira yells.

Due to that, all three guests slightly back away from Akira and Adelheid.

"ONEGAI! _(PLEASE!)_" Akira bows to Adelheid.

"Please don't, Onii-sama!" Rose stands and leans forward to beg.

"We don't want a great person like you to throw your life away!" Ayumi stands and almost seems to be crying.

"…Why would I commit suicide?" Adelheid asks after ten seconds of silence.

"You lost to those training robots! Which, in doing so, is pathetic, but I do not want to lose my Onii-sama!" Rose explains.

"So, I lost to the training robots. Is that reason enough for me to commit suicide?" Adelheid asks rhetorically.

"Of course not!" Akira slams his fist to the table.

"Akira-san, don't do that again!" Rose scolds.

"H-Hai..._(S-Sorry...)_" Akira apologizes.

"I am not thinking of ending my life," Adelheid says in an annoyed tone.

"Huh?" Akira reacts with a clueless expression.

"I may have lost to training robots, but I shall never think of such a way to die," Adelheid explains.

"So…" Akira is shocked.

"We shall just continue this dinner normally," Adelheid continues, "You do not have to act in such ways if you do not wish to, guests of Harima-san."

"Thanks! I was getting tired of keeping my chin up!" Malin sighs.

"Sorry about that!" Akira laughs in embarrassment.

"Great, so we were pretty much wasting our time, right?" Ayumi asks Adelheid.

"Yes, yet I am grateful to have people like you concerned about me," Adelheid answers.

"You even we wasted our time! Especially, the travel time!" Hinako titters.

"Akira-san, you shall pay for this!" Kasumi stands up and forms a fist.

"W-Now wait a minute!" Akira faces Kasumi, then backs up a little.

"Kasumi, you shouldn't—" Hinako tries to reason with Kasumi.

"URUSE! _(SHUT UP!)_" Kasumi slugs Akira.

Akira loses his vision. He hits on something hard, then hears a yelp. "M… A…ra…" is all he could hear. Akira finally blacks out.

* * *

A young Akira wakes up to find that he is in an ancient battlefield. 

"Hen da ne…_(Weird, isn't it…)_" holding a scythe, a figure in samurai armor appears before him.

Akira jumps back, "Nano mono ga anata…_(What are you?)_"

"Ii desu. Watashi wa shinigami…_(It's alright. I am an angel of death)_" the figure speaks in a female voice and discards her armor.

"Nani? Nani! _(WHAT? WHAT!)_" Akira backs up, then feels something behind him. He turns to see another figure in samurai armor.

"Ore wa koitsu no atarashii inochi _(I am this person's new life)_," the figure speaks in a male voice, discards his armor to reveal a spear.

"Kiken! _(DANGER!)_" Akira jumps away from between the two figures.

"Aitsu wa ikite inai yo. Samayou seishin, watashi ga suite iitekudasai…_(He is not alive. Wandering soul, please follow me…)_" the shinigami extends his hand to Akira.

"Dekinai! Koitsu wa ore no shujin. Koitsu wa hontou ni ikite iru! _(He can't! He is my host. He is definitely alive!)_" the figure points his spear towards the shinigami.

"Nibui…_(Pointless…)_" the shinigami prepares to fight.

"Hayaku oeru! _(End this quickly!)_" the figure charges towards the shinigami.

...TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

* * *

A foggy screen can be seen. The camera then focuses to reveal Mick and Kia at the stands of the baseball field.

"Don't ever do that again!" Mick scolds Kia.

"Do what? That was punishment!" Kia snaps back.

"Well, because of your 'punishing' her, Aisha went home! I'm suppose to be the cameraman, and you two are suppose to be the reporters!"

"We just need a replacement cameraman," Kia points towards the camera.

"Hello," a young female voice is heard off-screen.

"Thanks for filling in, Naomi!" Kia waves.

"It isn't a problem," Naomi replies.

"I don't even know how you were able to convince your antisocial classmate to fill in as cameragirl," Mick comments.

"Wanna know how?" Kia asks enthusiastically to dodge another long lecture from Mick.

"...Um...sure?"

"Well..."

* * *

One hour ago, at Room 1-B, Aisha's homeroom... 

"OK! Guys, who wants to be my replacement cameraman?" Kia announces to the class after the teacher dismisses the class and leaves.

Nobody pays any attention.

"HELLO?" Kia shouts this time.

No response.

"FREAKS OF ANGEN'S MIDDLE SCHOOL! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Kia explodes.

Still no response.

"FINE! BE THAT WAY!" Kia takes her bag and leaves.

At the hallway...

"Why doesn't anyone listen to me?!" Kia yells, as she goes to her locker.

"Let's see...I'll need my Pre-Algebra book, my history book, and my— WHERE'S MY SCIENCE BOOK?!" Kia searches her bag frantically.

"I'm dead! There's a quiz tomorrow, too!" Kia begins to lose hope after about five minutes of excavating her locker.

"Excuse me..." a red-haired girl with glasses taps Kia's shoulder.

"What do you want?! I'm a little busy at the moment!" Kia yells without even looking at the girl.

"Kia, you left your science book on your desk," the girl continues.

"That's nice. Now— WHAT?!" Kia turns to see the girl and the textbook in the girls hands.

The girls hands Kia the textbook.

"Thanks...do I know you?"

"I'm Naomi. I'm your classmate," the girl answers.

"Why haven't I noticed you before?"

"I don't speak in class very often. Neither am I called by our teachers very often..."

"Um...Naomi, do you want to help me with something?"

"Yes?"

"Be our cameragirl for the time being! Since you don't talk very often, you would make a lousy reporter, but you would be great as a cameragirl!"

"Sure..."

"All right!"

* * *

"Sometimes, I wonderwhy luck follows you..." Mick comments. 

"It's my unique ability!" Kia boasts.

The camera's battery icon starts blinking red.

"...Kia, the battery is about to run out..." Naomi warns off-screen.

"WHAT?!" Kia explodes in shock.

"Wow! You freakin' forgot to recharge the batteries, when it was your turn today...Smooth move..." Mick gives Kia a noogie.

"OW! That burns!" Kia struggles.

Naomi continues, "The battery will die in 3...2...1..."

The screen turns black

* * *

Chapter 3 End

* * *

I feel sleepy...Talk about multi-tasking! I'm over here doing this and simultaneously studying for my semester's finals! 

Review...Review...


	4. Akira and the Nightmare of Reminiscence

The screen shows the cafeteria of Angen's Middle School and Kia, Aisha, and two other girls are eating lunch.

"Naomi, focus the camera on me!" Kia looks towards the camera and orders the new camera girl Naomi.

"Okay," the camera zooms to Kia.

"All right! It's that time of the day again, guys!" Kia gives a suspicious smirk.

"The same conditions apply?" the camera turns towards a girl with long brown hair and light brown eyes.

"Yep!" the camera returns to Kia.

"I don't like it! I always end up paying!" the camera turns to the whining Aisha. She then looks at the camera and waves.

"Fine! I'll change it for today!" the camera turns back to Kia, who is looking through her bag.

"Naomi, say something to the camera!" the camera turns to a girl with long red hair tied into several ponytails and blue eyes.

"Rika, you shouldn't order Naomi around!" the camera looks back at the girl with brown hair and brown eyes.

"Cammy, how can she have any fun in this, if she just films and does nothing?" the camera returns to Rika.

"It's her choice," the camera returns to Cammy.

"Kia-chan, what are you looking for?" the camera looks at Aisha and Kia.

"I got 'em!" Kia pulls out five toothpicks, "We'll make this a draw!" She proceeds to mark the center of one of the toothpicks black. "The one who gets the black one pays for lunch tomorrow!" She puts all the toothpicks in her hands and waits for the others to pick a pick.

The camera zooms out and shows Aisha, Rika, and Cammy taking a toothpick.

"Okay, Naomi, we're last!" Kia moves her hand towards the camera.

Naomi's hand picks one, and Kia takes the last one.

"Show them!" Kia yells.

The group shows that all of their toothpicks have some black in the center.

"What's this?!" the camera looks at Cammy.

"Look at Kia's hand!" the camera looks at Rika then at Kia's palm, which has some ink smudged on it.

"Oops!" Kia looks at her hand in embarrassment.

"Okay! You pay for the lunch!" Cammy, Rika, and Aisha say in unison, even though the camera is still focused at Kia.

"What?!" Kia snaps, then looks at the camera, "Naomi, turn off the camera! Our viewers will not like what I'm gonna do to them!" Kia charges at her other friends.

The rest of the group run away, as Kia chases them. Just about everyone in the cafeteria stares at the girls. Kia tackles Cammy and Rika and grabs Rika's right ear and Cammy's left ear, then pulls them outside.

Once Kia drags her two captives outside the cafeteria and closes the door, Naomi is heard emotionlessly saying, "…Turning the camera off…due to lack of characters…"

The screen turns black.

* * *

"**KISAMA! **_**(YOU!)**_" the dark figure barks. 

"Ha!" the death angel swings her scythe. The scythe is black and has a golden coin hanging on a piece of yarn tied to the end of the blunt side. The blade of her scythe is blue but has some red dye around the point of the blade. It appears sharp enough to split a piece of hair. The attack misses, but the impact of her scythe to the ground brings the ground level down by two feet.

"**Kore! **_**(Take this!)**_" the dark figure lunges his spear forward. The wooden spear is blood black and has a white, blood-drenched cloth tied between where the wooden part meets the metal prong of the spear. The prong of the spear appears to be chipped and blunt due to over-usage and no repairs. His attack almost connects with her stomach by just a hairsbreadth.

"**Sore! **_**(Take that!)**_" the death angel mows.

The dark figure avoids any injuries by dodging; however, the attack slices the hair off his bangs. "**Raaa!**" he swings his spear towards the death angel.

The death angel blocks the attack with her scythe.

Almost instantaneously, the figure adds more strength to his attack and overpowers the death angel, making her scythe slip from her hands. Seeing the opportunity, he lunges and tries to stab her face.

The death angel ducks, but her helmet is sent flying from the attack.

Young Akira tries to take a good look at her face. Her straight brown hair played by the wind blocks most of her face, but Akira could still see some of her face. She has gentle brown eyes that are now in fear. Her lips are peach and appear soft and tender. Her nose is small, gentle, and delicate. "Kirei…_(Pretty…)_" Akira says under his breath.

"Chikushou! _(Damn!)_" while covering her face, the death angel leaps back and disappears in a gust of wind.

"**Saa, omae…**_**(Now, you…)**_" the dark figure grins and turns to Akira.

"A-ano…Shi-! _(U-Um…Sh-!)_" Akira turns tail and runs away.

"**Hehehe…**" the dark figure snickers and chases Akira.

* * *

Outside the infirmary of the Sky Noah, Adelheid, Ayumi, Kasumi, and Hinako wait until the doctor exits the infirmary. 

"So, how are they now?" Ayumi asks the doctor.

"From what I can see, their conditions are improving. Harima-sama, for some reason, is tossing and turning in his bed. He may have sustained trauma from that punch. The other patient, however, seems to be normal. She shows no sign of trauma," the doctor replies.

"…_All of this is my fault…If I had not been so stubborn, he would have never planned that dinner. If he had not planned that dinner, he would not have met any of these girls. If he had not these girls, he would not be unconscious…_" Adelheid punishes himself mentally.

"How much longer until they awaken?" Ayumi asks.

"It's hard to say, my guess is that Harima-sama may regain consciousness within an hour. As for the other, she will most probably regain consciousness after about two hours," the doctor replies.

The rest of the group stay silent and wait. The doctor walks to the elevator.

* * *

"Kusso! _(Crap!)_" Akira trips over a dead samurai. 

"**Owari ka…**_**(This is the end?)**_" the dark figure crushes a few bodies as he makes his way to Akira.

"DAME! _(NO!)_" Akira rushes to get up and runs for his life again.

"**Hehehe…Mada mada ka…**_**(Here we go again, huh?)**_" the dark figure slowly follows Akira.

As Akira continues running, his foot falls on a hole. "K-Kusso…! _(S-Shit!)_" Akira looks at his left foot and finds that he has twisted it. "Doshite…_(Why…)_"

"**Ima ni omae no tokkyo wa owaru toki…**_**(Your freedom ends now…)**_" the dark figure appears behind Akira.

Akira thinks as the dark figure comes closer, "_Doshite (Why?)……… Tatsukete (Help me)……… Dare…(Somebody)_"

"HOLD IT!" five cloaked figures appear nearby.

"**Dare…KISAMA…**_**(Who the hell are YOU?!)**_" the dark figure shifts his attention towards the cloaked beings.

"We shall stop you from interfering…" the middle one raises his right hand towards his face and forms a fist. On both his hands are black gloves inscribed with some sort of insignia.

"The organization has fallen, you know…" the one to the far left slips on blue gloves with the same insignia on both of them.

"Your existence is no longer needed!" the big one to the right reveals a blue gloves with the same insignia.

"So take a hike!" the one to the left shows the same insignia on his shirt.

"Please leave…" the short one to the far right reveals dark purple gloves with the same insignia.

* * *

Outside the infirmary, the group stay silent and do nothing but wait. After a few minutes of waiting, Rose with Prince on her arms walks joins the group and sits on a bench. 

"…So, how are they?" Rose asks to break the silence.

Kasumi takes a seat beside Rose and lays he elbows on her knees and has her chin supported by her hands. Without looking at Rose, she answers, "The doctor said that they will both wake up in about two hours."

"Is that so?" Rose pets Prince.

"Perfect, huh?" Ayumi stares at the ground, "I'm glad that Akira and his friend are going to recover, but I hope that they won't be any different after they wake up…"

"…_They may change?_" Adelheid thinks a horrible thought, "_Akira and that other girl may never be the same…All because of me…_"

* * *

"**Omoshiroi! Saa, hajimemasho! **_**(This will be interesting! So, let's begin!)**_" the dark figure dashes past Akira and lunges at the one in the middle. 

He dodges. In the process his cloak lifts a little bit, allowing Akira to take a short glace at his face. He has grayish hair and crimson eyes that glared like those of a wild dog. His skin is tanned, and his aura burns like a wildfire. On his shirt, rests a pair of sunglasses; and on his neck hangs a necklace with a silver cross.

"**Tsugi! **_**(Next!)**_" the dark figure sweeps his spear and summons a small gust of wind.

The wind blows on two more of the cloaked people and uncloaks them for a few seconds. Luckily, a few seconds is enough for him to take a good look at their faces. One has white hair (not long, yet not short) and blue eyes. Her aura feels wild and unpredictable. The other has short black hair and brown eyes. His aura feels uncontrolled and full of rage. Akira takes a look at his right arm, which just turned to a drill.

"Kore! _(Take this!)_" the big cloaked one tackles the dark figure and knocks him away.

"**KISAMA! **_**(YOU!)**_" the dark figure flips before he hits the ground. He charges towards the big one and kicks his face with such force that he is knocked down.

"Chi-! _(D-)_" he hits the ground.

"**SHINE! **_**(DIE!)**_" the dark figure stabs him, but to his surprise the spear cannot pierce his body.

"Fool!" the big guy grabs the dark figure's leg and throws him away. "By body is not that a human's!"

Akira takes a good look at his face. He has brown hair and tough eyes. His skin is fair, and his aura is impossible to read.

"Excuse me, Akira-san," the short one helps Akira up.

"D-Dare anta-tachi? _(W-who are you guys?)_" Akira asks as she puts his arm around her. He feels that her aura is cold yet pure.

* * *

Outside the infirmary, the group waits for Akira and the other injured one to recover. Ayumi is pacing, Adelheid sitting beside Kasumi, and Hinako and Rose are sitting on a different bench. 

"…Kasumi-san, this is all your fault!" Rose snaps out of nowhere.

Kasumi barks back, "AKIRA-SAN, DESERVED IT! However—"

"SHUT IT!" Rose actually seems pissed, "He deserved no such thing! He just tried to prepare a banquet and even invited you, but you had to slug him unconscious!"

"…Hey, isn't that Sara-chan?" in an attempt to cool every one down by changing the subject, Ayumi points towards Sara who is walking slowly to the group.

"I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG TO THAT PEDOPHILE!" Kasumi does not seem to care about Sara.

"Konnichi wa _(Good afternoon)_, Bernstein Adelheid-sama, Bernstein Rose-sama, Andrews-sama, Todoh-sama, Shijou-sama," Sara greets the group as she tries to find a seat in a safe area.

"HE IS NOT A PEDOPHILE!" Rose yells loud enough to hit the Richter scale.

"Sara-chan, why are you here?" Ayumi asks in curiosity.

"PROVE THAT HE ISN'T A PEDOPHILE!" Kasumi yells loud enough for the people in the entire floor to hear.

"I want to wait for Harima-sama, too!" Sara gives Ayumi a depressed expression.

"PROVE THAT HE IS!" Rose yells loud enough for the all people in the airship.

"Sure, sit…um…here!" Ayumi finds a small chair for Sara to sit on.

"HE HAS A MAID THAT'S EIGHT!" Kasumi points to Sara.

"Thank you, Andrews-sama…" Sara ignores Kasumi and takes her seat.

"SARA-SAN IS OUR MAID! WE JUST ASSIGNED HER TO HIM!" Rose points to herself then the infirmary door.

Nobody notices, but the doctor passes through the group and enters the infirmary.

* * *

"You…don't know?" the short one asks. 

Akira shakes his head.

"We were part of an organization, but…you are too…" she explains.

"Organization?" Akira asks.

"We are—" she tries to continue but an explosion from where the others are fighting the dark figure makes her scream in fear and close her eyes.

The wind of the explosion blows her cloak away. Akira looks at her face. She has long blonde hair and a childlike countenance like that of someone his age.

She opens her crimson eyes and continues, "We are all part of the organization. Our group composes of experiments of the organization. I am a clone, even K-Dash, K-Four-Nine, and Angel; and Ojisan is an android. Unlike you, we have left the past behind…"

"What does this have to do with me?" Akira asks after another explosion occurs.

She continues, "You are—"

Outside the infirmary, Kasumi and Rose argue up an earthquake. Adelheid still has his face buried in his hands. Ayumi still paces around. Sara and Hinako stay silently seated on their seats. Aya and Megumi, who both have arrived earlier, are leaning on opposite walls.

**_MARK OF THE GENOCIDER 4_**

Inside the infirmary, the doctor is finally annoyed of Akira's tossing and turning. She takes a needle (not the kind for medical purposes) and pokes his foot.

Akira instantly awakens and falls off his bed…face first.

"You are awake finally, Harima-sama!" the doctor smiles after having concealed the needle in her lab coat.

"Ee…_What was that dream? It felt so real!_" the not-in-his-complete-senses Akira gets up and rubs his head, "How did I end up in the infirmary, again?"

"Well—" the doctor tries to continue.

"Harima-sama!" Sara tackles the door open and jumps in Akira's bed.

After that, everyone else outside enters and greets Akira and that that he is finally better.

"I'm sorry, Harima-san…" Adelheid tries to not make any eye contact with Akira.

"It's okay…It's not your fault…" Akira smiles.

"If you have changed, then I must be held accountable," Adelheid explains.

"It's all right. Changing isn't that bad…but why would I change?"

"Harima-sama! I was so worried! I thought you would never wake up!" Sara cries on Akira's shirt.

"'Never wake up'? How long was I out?!" a surprised Akira asks.

As Ayumi is about to open her mouth, Hinako shushes her and says, "You have been asleep for three months!"

"**WHAT!!!!!**" Akira's jaw drops.

"Kidding! It has only been a couple of days!" Hinako titters.

"Eh?" Akira gives a clueless and confused expression.

"AHAHAHA! Akira-san, your face looks so funny!" Sara's whales become guffaws.

Everyone looks at Akira and laughs their heads out, even Adelheid, Aya, Megumi, and the doctor.

"I'm glad that everyone is glad that I'm awake!" Akira tries to hide his divine wrath.

"Haha…Now, all we have to do is to wait for the other patient to wake up!" the doctor takes the clipboard laying on a table and flips through a few papers.

"'The other patient'?" Akira's anger disappears in a flash.

"Yes, Malin-sama…" using her pen, the doctor points at another bed.

"M-M-MALIN-CHAN!" Akira jumps off his bed and runs to Malin's bed to see a peacefully sleeping Malin.

"She has suffered no critical injuries. She has just passed out from being hit," the doctor continues.

"'Being hit'? By whom?" Akira, still in a shocked state, turns to the doctor.

"When Todoh-san slugged you, your head was forced back and collided with Malin's," Ayumi explains.

"Think of it as a domino effect. Most of the damage was made to her, but, technically, you took two hits," the doctor explains.

"Apparently, your thick skull crashed into Malin's head when you were slugged," Hinako explains.

"…_Please leave…_" Akira whispers an order.

"Huh? What was that?" Rose asks.

"…Please leave…" Akira says louder, but not loud enough for anyone to catch.

"Please repeat," Hinako requests.

"**GET OUT!**" Akira explodes, then pushes everyone, including the doctor, out. After doing so, he slams the door and locks it.

Everyone stands outside without saying a word.

After a few seconds of clueless-ness, Kasumi bangs on the locked door, "**AKIRA-SAN!** DON'T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING TO MALIN! UNLOCK THIS DAMN DOOR!"

"What's wrong with her?" Sara asks Aya.

Aya answers, "I think Todoh-sama is being too…"

"Paranoid…" Megumi finishes for Aya.

Inside the infirmary, Akira ignores the banging on the door and walks to Malin's bedside, then kneels.

"Gomen _(Sorry)_, you got involved between Kasumi and my encounter," Akira says, but tries to not look at Malin's face.

"I should never have met you…" he turns and leans slightly forward to take a better look at Malin.

"If I haven't, then you would not be hurt…_This means that I…_" he strokes Malin's face.

"…And perhaps, I wouldn't be feeling like this…_Feelings full of love and hate…_" he stands and turns away.

"Uh?" Malin awakens, but Akira does not hear her, due to the sounds of Kasumi's trying to break the door down.

"…Pathetic…_I do like you_…A guy is admitting to these emotions…" Akira hits a switch to bring soundproof glass door behind the main door. (The soundproof glass door is available only at the infirmaries, the meditation rooms, and the study rooms.)

Malin's eyes adjust, and she sees Akira pacing about the room. "_What did he say?_"

"I guess I really want to say that I like you…_It's so easy right now, but…_" Akira stops but has his back turned to Malin.

"_What?!_" Malin gets up a little, supported by her elbow.

"However, we've only known each other for less than a day…_Which makes it all the more pathetic…_" Akira looks at a blank space on the wall.

"_He likes me?!_" a surprised Malin tries to sit up but has not enough strength to do so.

"A pathetic infatuation…_From first sight…_" Akira slowly turns around.

Malin quickly lies down and closes her eyes to make Akira assume that she is still asleep. "_It's not that bad…_"

"…That I am confessing while you are asleep…_because I feel most secure this way…_" Akira slowly walks to Malin's bedside. Once he reaches her bedside, he moves his hair away to reveal his gentle brown eyes that are full of regret and love.

"_What's he gonna do? I wish I could open my eyes!_" Malin's act is convincing enough for Akira to be fooled.

"…One kiss…_would be all I need from you, so that when I die my life would have no regrets…_" Akira leans over Malin, closes his eyes, and brings his lips close to Malin's.

Malin gulps. "_**WHAT?!!!**_" Malin opens her eyes in shock.

With his eyes still closed, Akira stops about a millimeter away from Malin's lips. "…but it would not be right to do such a thing to you…against your will…"

"Huh?" Malin moves upward in reaction and accidentally locks lips with Akira.

"MMM?! _**I'M KISSING HER…!**_"

"Ah…_I—I—_"

After a few seconds, they push each other away.

"GAH! _WHAT WAS THAT?!_" Akira steps backwards and leans on a table but knocks a vase over in the process.

"AH! _BASTARD!_" Malin turns into a shade of beet red and breathes hard.

Akira breathes difficultly for a few seconds, then completely returns to his senses, "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! _My first kiss! B-B-But I-I took advantage of her in her sleep! What kind of guy am I?!_"

"**YOU SHOULD BE!** _That was my __**first **__kiss, __**idiot!**_" Malin snaps but somehow forgets to wipe her lips.

From the outside…

"DAMN IT! OPEN THIS DOOR!" Kasumi begins swearing.

"How much longer 'til she gives up?" Ayumi asks Hinako.

"Never…" Hinako answers.

"I thought so…" Ayumi responds.

"Todoh-san had better not leave a scratch on the wall!" Rose yells to Hinako, "If she does…some **bad things** **may happen** to her!"

"I'm sure that won't happen!" Ayumi tries to assure Rose, "That door is made of steel, after all!"

"TIME TO BREAK IT OUT!" Kasumi yells.

"What are you intending to do?" Adelheid asks.

"**CHOU KASANE ATE!!!**" with a wave of energy, Kasumi breaks the entire wall down!

"Kasumi, that's overdoing it!" a shocked Hinako stares at Kasumi and the destroyed wall.

"Perfect!" Rose yells sarcastically.

Kasumi looks at Malin, who is blushing a little and breathing hard, then at Akira, who is blushing a lot and breathing with less difficulty. "**BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MALIN!**" Kasumi charges towards Akira.

"**Dog pile!**" Sara yells, then everyone else in the hallway and room, except Akira, Malin, Adelheid, and the doctor, jumps at Kasumi.

"What was that?" Akira stares cluelessly at the mound of people on Kasumi.

After some time of being checked by the doctor and watching Kasumi get carried away to the brig, Akira is ruled to have made the quickest recovery that the doctor has ever seen. Malin, on the other hand, has to stay for observation for one more day.

Sara walks through a hallway and notices Akira. She stops and asks, "Akira-san, what's wrong? It's lunchtime and you're just standing outside the back-up infirmary."

"Boku wa— Nan demo arimasen…_(I— It's nothing…)_" Akira returns to his silence.

"If you're still guilty about getting her unconscious, try to forget about. Besides, that wasn't your fault, anyway!"

"That's not the dilemma right now…" Akira thinks aloud.

"What's 'dilemma'?"

"_I am an evil person! I stole a kiss from Malin. On top of that, I took advantage of her!_" Akira just quietly stands.

Sara gets bored of waiting and leaves, "Good luck on that, Akira-san!"

"Maybe…this is how Adel-san feels…" Akira speaks to no one.

"He believes that he is evil because he is his father's son. I am evil because of my own acts…That makes me much worse than how Adel-san believes in his being evil…" Akira continues contemplating aloud.

After a while, the PA pages for Akira to go to the meeting room. Akira glances at the door of the second infirmary then looks to the ground, "I…am…" He stops talking and makes his way to the elevator. He stops in front of elevator and gently pushes the button with a sign pointing upwards. The elevator doors open a few seconds later and reveals Megumi inside.

"Harima-san, do you still remember where the meeting room is, or do you need my help?" in concern, Megumi asks Akira.

"…Yes…" Akira enters the elevator.

"As you wish…_He doesn't seem to be himself…If he's like this I…_" Megumi gently pushes the button labeled "6".

The elevator doors close. Akira still has his eyes looking to the floor, and Megumi has obvious concern for him. The doors soon open, and the two exit the elevator.

"This way, please…" Megumi takes a left.

"Ee…" Akira lifelessly follows her.

"Harima-san, it may not be in my place, but…are you feeling well?" Megumi asks spontaneously.

"…I'm just evil…" Akira says blankly.

"Um…right…You are in no way evil! You are a kind person who has much heart!" Megumi yells.

"Is that so…"

"You shouldn't take so much guilt upon yourself for getting Malin-sama unconscious!"

"…_Everyone thinks that is the problem…_"

"It wasn't completely your fault! Todoh-sama took out you and Malin-sama!"

"…_I kissed her…_"

"If it makes you feel any better, she's locked up in the brig of the Sky Noah!"

"…It's okay…"

"…Harima-san, here is the meeting room…" Megumi points to two brown doors with glass doorknobs.

"I'm ready…"

"All right…" Megumi opens the doors.

Akira enters the room and sees a circular table with Adelheid sitting on the master's chair, Rose sitting on the left hand side of the master's chair, Ayumi sitting on the right hand side of the master's chair, and Prince resting on Rose's lap.

Adelheid looks up and sees Akira taking his seat, across from the master's chair. "You are sure that you do not require more rest?"

"Yes…" Akira responds, "What is this meeting for?"

"Let me start from the beginning…" Adelheid begins to explain, "For many years now, there has been something called 'The King of Fighters Tournament'. For most of the tournaments, competitors are in teams of three…"

"…And…" Akira interrupts for the third time in his life.

Adelheid continues, "Rose—"

Rose raises her chin and gives a boastful smile.

Adelheid continues, "…has decided to give us the preempt and suggested that we start a team of our own. Last time, I joined as a single fighter, but failed… During the tournament, I realized that teamwork and reliance give better conditions for victory."

"Get to the point…" Akira still has his thoughts clouded by that event.

"I have decided to form a team…" Adelheid announces.

"I'm the tertiary member of the team!" Ayumi shouts.

"I am the leader…" Adelheid follows.

"That leaves me as the secondary member…?" Akira comments.

"Of course! Now all that is left is to think of a team name!" Rose speaks up.

"Akira, I'm leaving the name of our team to you," Adelheid points to Akira.

"You're joking," Akira quickly stands.

Adelheid puts his arm down and looks at him, "_No, I am not…_"

Akira sighs, "Why can't you leave that to Nee-san?"

"Rose-chan hates the names that I think of!" Ayumi shrugs.

"Fine…Hm…Desperado?" Akira sits back down.

"Do we look like Spaniards?" un-amusedly, Rose looks at Akira and crosses her arms.

"Rosebud?" Akira suggests.

"I love it!" Rose screams.

"I don't think so!" Ayumi yells.

"Sky Pirates?" Akira rests his head on his right hand and rests his elbow on the table.

"NO!" both Ayumi and Rose explode.

"Uh…What's German for 'graceful'?" Akira asks.

"Not happening!" Rose yells.

"I suggested that too…" Ayumi lays her head on the table.

"Endless?" Akira suggests.

"Like endless energy!" Rose bursts into smiles.

"Try another word," Ayumi requests after staring at Rose's cheering.

"Infinity Team," Akira waits for the others to respond.

"Infinite power!" Rose yells.

"Infinite grace!" Ayumi follows.

"Infinite victories…" Adelheid follows.

"Infinite heart…I hope…" Akira whispers to himself.

"I'll have dinner in my room tonight," Adelheid says after he adjourns the meeting.

"Well, we've all had a long day, I'm turning in!" Ayumi stretches and leaves the room.

"It is 7:00 PM, anyway. I'll need to prepare tomorrow!" Rose with Prince in her arms follows Ayumi out.

"I'm going to go eat…_I can't seem to forget…Maybe, something will help me feel better…_" Akira leaves as well.

Outside, Megumi waits for Akira.

Upon seeing him, she greets him, "Good evening, Harima-san."

"Ee…good evening…" Akira responds.

"Will you be having dinner tonight?"

"Ee…"

"Where would you like dinner?"

"Outside, I guess…"

"All right. Please wait outside the main elevator of the first Supply Area. I shall bring you your dinner…" Megumi leaves Akira.

"Ee…" Akira heads to the elevator.

Meanwhile, at the second infirmary, Malin in bed munches on her dinner, and Hinako eats hers at Malin's bedside. Standing near the door is another maid, with long black hair that shines beautifully in almost any kind of light, wide brown eyes, and large glasses in front of her eyes. The doctor is not around, since she has turned in a few minutes ago.

"I love this kind of food!" Malin yells after finishing her plate of luncheon meat and steak.

"Meat?" Hinako asks.

"Nope, rich food!"

"If that's the case, why do you not like the food I always brought for us at school?" Hinako glares at Malin.

"That was before I knew you that you're rich and fabulously wealthy!"

"…Right…"

"Don't look at me like that!"

"Hmph!"

"Um…" Malin scratches her head, not knowing what to do, then turns her attention to the maid, "Chitose, may I have another plate of this?"

"Yes, Malin-sama…" Chitose hurries to Malin and takes her plate.

Before Chitose leaves the room, Malin yells, "Can you also tell me how Akira-kun and Kasumi-chan are?"

"…Yes, Malin-sama…" Chitose exits, then slowly closes the door.

"Oh, yeah…Kasumi-chan is in the brig for destroying a wall!" Hinako remembers.

Meanwhile, at the brig, the brig warden sits on a well-crafted wooden chair and observes the only prisoner— Kasumi. On his table is a cardkey showing a picture of him and his name, Sigfried Shadows. Kasumi is rotting away in a cell. Lying on the bed, she hugs her knees waiting for Adelheid to forgive her…or the sun to rise the next day…whichever comes first…

Outside the Sky Noah, Akira with Megumi and Sara eats some luncheon meat and steaks.

"Harima-san, are you sure this is all right?" Megumi hesitates to eat.

"Of course, it is!" Sara answers for Akira, then takes a big bite of the luncheon meat held by Akira.

"That was mine…" Akira tells Sara off.

"Whoopshi!" Sara swallows her food, "Sowwy, Akira-san!"

"Sara-chan, you're not suppose to refer to our masters by their given names! _It's a rule that sometimes I forget, but should always follow,_" Megumi scolds Sara.

"It's okay! Akira-san, you don't mind right?" Sara smiles cutely at Akira.

Akira sighs, "…It's all right…"

"See?" Sara smiles in victory.

"…Okay…" Megumi gives Sara a concerned look.

"Heheh…" Akira could not help but chuckle a little.

"Harima-san!" Megumi yells in embarrassment.

"EH HAHAHAHAHA!" Akira laughs harder. Soon, Sara laughs as well. Even Megumi ended up laughing!

Carrying a plate of food and a clipboard, Chitose returns to the second infirmary. Before op the door, she puts the clipboard under her right arm to have a free hand. She reaches for the door, and opens the door slightly, but hears her master's guests talking. She decides to eavesdrop.

"So, that's what you've been dreaming about the entire two days you were out?" Hinako titters.

"Well, I can't help it! It's a dream!" Malin giggles.

After a while, the two stop laughing.

"Malin-chan, I've been wondering: why were you and Harima-san breathing hard a few hours ago?" Hinako asks Malin.

"Oh, um…I'll tell you, only if you promise not to tell anyone, okay?" Malin replies.

"I promise."

"You have to really promise! I can't risk Kasumi finding out!"

"I promise, already. So, tell me!"

"Well, when I first woke up, all I could hear was Akira's voice. When I was able to open my eyes, I saw Akira walking around the room and talking about some nonsense. I listened carefully, and I could swear that he confessed his infatuation to me!"

"Wha—?! That seems to be wonderful!"

"…I'm…not done yet…"

"Sorry. Please continue."

"…He turned around, so I instantly acted like I was still asleep. He came close to me. I could feel his breath, and my heart pounded quickly. Then, I don't know what happened…My head moved up, and…"

"YOU KISSED HIM?! Oh, my gosh!"

"Stop it! I'm embarrassed enough, already!"

"So…how was it?"

"I…um…I don't know! I don't know how long we were like that!"

"That wasn't the answer to my question."

"Fine! It was—"

Chitose trips and accidentally opens the door. "_Shit!_" She made herself look as if she were entering the room normally. "Malin-sama, here is your plate."

"Um…thanks! _She was there this whole time, wasn't she?_" Malin knows that Chitose was eavesdropping but does not mind.

"So, how are Kasumi and Harima-san?" Hinako asks but does not suspect that Chitose was eavesdropping.

"Shijou-sama, Sigfried-san said that she curled up in the fetal position on her bed…" Chitose answers as she hands the plate of food to Malin.

"O…K…_I probably should have told Bernstein-san that I could pay for the damages as compensation for Kasumi's destroying the wall,_" Hinako responds.

"Harima-sama is eating his dinner outside the Sky Noah," Chitose continues.

"Um…Chitose," Malin says to Chitose.

"Yes, Malin-sama?" Chitose responds.

"Um…what do you think of Akira-kun?" Malin blushes a little.

"Harima-sama? He is a kind and loyal person who is true to his word and wants laughing. That is all that I have heard of him from the other servants," Chitose replies.

"You haven't met him, yet?!" surprised, Malin asks.

"No, I do see him around the ship, sometimes. He greets me occasionally, but I am unsure if he knows my name, at all," Chitose replies.

"So, I need to speak to someone who hangs out with him more…" Malin thinks aloud.

"If you wish to know, the people who spend the most time with him, other than Bernstein Adelheid-sama, Bernstein Rose-sama, and Andrews-sama, are Megumi-san and Sara-san," Chitose believes that Malin is asking her.

"No, it's okay. I'll find out more about him personally!" Malin replies.

"How do you intend to do that?" Hinako asks Malin.

Malin starts to elaborate, "Well…"

After eating, Akira escorts Megumi and Sara back to their rooms. Although Megumi is against it, he insists. After doing so, he greets them good night and heads to his own room. Somehow, he is able to find his way back to his room. Akira heads to the bathroom and brushes his teeth.

"_So…that helped…a little…_" Akira spits his toothpaste out to the sink.

"_Now, to meditate on that dream…_" Akira gargles on some water, then spits it out.

Akira takes his soap and washes his face, "_A death angel, a shadow, and five people from 'the organization'…_"

He rinses the soap off his face, "_All are not complete humans…_"

He takes a towel on the nearby towel rack and wipes his face dry, "_Four are clones, and the other is a cyborg…_"

He changes takes off his day clothes and wears his pajamas, "_The blonde one said that I am also part of 'the organization', but they have thrown that past away…_"

He walks slowly to his bed and sits, "_How can I be part of the organization?_"

He lies down with these thoughts in mind. Eventually, he falls asleep.

The next day, everyone goes through their morning routine in the Sky Noah, save for Kasumi, who is still at the brig, and Malin, who has no daily routine. At Akira's room and in an attempt to awaken the sleeping-like-a-rock Akira, Sara jumps on him and Megumi tries to shake him awake. At Adelheid's room, Adelheid wakes up on his own and makes his way to the training room. At Ayumi's bed room, Ayumi wakes up and stretches, then falls to her pillow and falls asleep again. At Rose's glorious bedroom, Prince wakes Rose up by licking her face. At Aya's room, Aya writes down the weather of the day for her diary before taking a bath. At the third guest room, Hinako is awakened by Chitose who wears earplugs and uses a loud-as-a-megaphone alarm clock. Griever finishes his shower and, with other crew members, inspects the ship. At the brig, Sigfried practices his swordsmanship and ignores the fact that someone may be watching. Kasumi looks at a blank space on the cell and waits for Sigfried, the kind brig warden, to let her out. At the second infirmary, Anna, the doctor, takes a sip of her coffee while she observes the innocently sleeping Malin.

That afternoon after Kasumi was released from the brig and after lunch at the dining table, Adelheid sits at the master's chair. Rose sits on the chair to the left hand of the master's chair. Beside her sits Ayumi. Beside her sits Malin. Akira sits on the chair to the right hand of the master's chair. Beside him sits Hinako. Beside her sits Kasumi.

"That was great!" Malin says after finishing her lunch.

"_Now is a good time…_" Hinako taps a spoon on a glass cup, "If I may, Malin has an announcement!"

"I do?" Malin has forgotten the plan she told Hinako and Chitose the night before.

"Training!" Hinako coughs.

"Oh, right!" Malin stands up, "This is out of nowhere, but what would you guys call Akira-kun?"

"Boku? _(Me?)_" Akira responds, "_She's up to something…Most likely, I deserve it!_"

"Okay! First, Ayumi-chan!" Malin points to Akira's elder sister.

"Huh? Um…loyal?" Ayumi does not seem to be able to think of anything else to say.

"Mm-hm!" Malin crosses her arms and nods, then points to Adelheid, "Adelheid-san, what do you think of him?"

"…A kind soul, who overdoes his thanking others for favors…" Adelheid answers.

"I DO?!" Akira yells in response to Adelheid's answer. Apparently, he is oblivious to that fact.

"Sou desu ka…_(Is that so?)_" Malin crosses her arms again and nods, then points to Rose, "Rose-chan, what do you think of Akira-kun?"

Rose puts a finger on her cheek (a thinking pose), "Well, he spends most of his time flirting with the maids."

"**I DO NOT!!!**" Akira explodes.

"I jest!" Rose giggles. After she stops giggling, she continues, "But he does seem to have a temper towards his friends…"

"Huh?" Akira thinks for a moment, "_No, I don't! Well, there was that time that…Then, that time I…But I didn't…She's right!_ I'M SORRY!"

"I humbly forgive you!" Rose raises her chin.

"Good. Good," Malin does it again, then randomly points to the maid standing close to the door, "You! What's your name, and what do you think of Akira-kun?"

"Ah, my name is Saito Megumi. Malin-sama, I believe that Harima-san is very accepting and a good listener most of the time," the red-haired maid with blue eyes answers.

"Mm-hm!" Malin nods a few times, then points to Hinako, "Hinako-chan, what do you think of Akira-kun?"

"I believe that he is not very masculine sometimes," Hinako titters.

"WHAT?!" Akira bursts again, then remembers what Rose said, "I mean— What?"

"I don't see what you mean," Ayumi remarks.

Hinako explains, "While Harima-san and Malin-chan were still unconscious, you told me much about him. You told me that his mannerisms consisted of placing his hands of his hips, watching some cartoons that had boys blushing when they see other boys, and owning stuffed toys in his room. You even told me he doesn't have any of 'those' things, even though he is at that age!"

"That is not right!" Akira tries to control the loudness of his voice, "I do that sometimes, those are anime— specifically, _Card Captor Sakura_ and _Princess Princess_, and those are plushies, collectables, and memorabilia! Concerning 'those' things…I'm not really interested…"

"Nice explanation!" Malin crosses her arms and nods, then rests her right foot on the table and her right elbow on her knee and points to Akira, "Akira-kun, this all leads to one thing: You are in need of help! I will teach you how to be more like a guy! You just have to enroll under my free special course, which guarantees that you will be better in one month, or your money back!…"

Upon hearing that, Akira takes his seat and slumps. He is somewhat sad and looks at Malin, "_Thanks a lot…I…think…I deserve this…_" Akira sighs then looks a little lower and instantly blushes. Since Malin is wearing a short skirt and has her foot on the table, Akira's eyes wander to a certain area…"DAME! _(NO!)_ I shouldn't look! Demo _(But)_…DAME! _(NO!)_ DAME! _(NO!)_ DAME DESU! _(NO WAY!)_" Akira slips off the chair and hits the floor.

"Akira-kun, daijoubuu? _(Akira-kun, are you okay?)_" Malin asks Akira, although she cannot see him.

"Itetetete…E-Ee…daijoubuu…_(Ow…Y-Yeah…I'm okay…)_" Akira lifts his head from the floor and slowly raises himself close to the table.

"Don't do that! So, you'll join my training program, right?" Malin orders Akira.

"Sumimasen _(Sorry)_…Ha— _(Ye—)_" Akira tries to look at Malin, but ends up looking at the same place! "IIIIII! _(AHHHHH!)_" Akira tries to hide his eyes and smashes his head into the table in the process. "Are! _(Huh?!)_" Then his head hits his chair…and he falls to the floor again…

"That's a 'yes', right?" Malin asks Kasumi.

"Unfortunately…" Kasumi answers.

"Great! Tomorrow is the day, Akira's training starts!" Malin shouts, "Ayumi-chan, help Akira get packing!"

"Nani? _(What?)_" Ayumi is clueless.

"Akira is gonna move out during the training!" Malin continues.

"But where shall he stay?" Adelheid asks Malin.

"_Had better not be where I think it is!_" Kasumi seems to be at the brink of exploding.

Malin scoffs and points to herself and smiles, "With me!"

"I'm back!" Akira rubs his head and gets back up.

"**SHINE! **_**(DIE!)**_" Kasumi with a bloody intent charges at Akira.

"WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" Akira runs for his life.

"Their fight could take a while…" Malin's smile begins to twitch.

* * *

Chapter 4 End

* * *

At the volleyball court of Angen's Middle School, Kia in a couch's uniform and Aisha and Naomi both in a volleyball player's uniform can be seen.

"OK! One more!" Kia yells and tweets on her whistle.

"Kia, why am I doing this?" Aisha pants.

"Because, I want our class's volleyball team to be the best! So, stop dawdling and pick up the pace!" Kia yells, then frantically tweets on her whistle.

"Do your best…" Naomi emotionlessly says as she returns all of Aisha's serves.

"Weird…I thought Naomi is suppose to be the bookworm type…" Mick's voice is heard. Apparently, he is the cameraman for the duration of the practice.

Naomi returns Aisha's serve, and Aisha jumps and spikes it! However, Naomi quickly returns it with such force and speed that it hits Aisha before her feet even touches the ground. In fact, her butt is the first to hit the ground.

"WHA?!" Mick's voice yells.

"Uh…" Aisha lies on her back and is in a daze.

Kia tweets on her whistle, then yells, "Good job, Naomi! You should really join the team!"

"Good job?!" Mick runs into the scene and looks at the dazed Aisha…who has a red, volleyball-shaped mark on her face.

Aisha gets up and eyes begin to shed tears, "WAHH!!!"

"Ah! Calm down! Uh, maybe you should sit over here!" Mick slides his arms under her knees and back, then carries her to the stands.

Kia shrugs and follows Mick, "Oh, well! Naomi, take five! Oh, and bring the camera here!"

Naomi walks towards the camera and picks it up. Due to the angling, all that is seen is the team logo…on the uniform…which—

"Practice makes perfect, but at this point…um…staying alive is more important!" Mick's voice is heard.

"You're just making yourself look cool!" Kia's voice is heard, followed by a patting sound.

"Great…" Mick sounds un-amused.

"Oh, the camera! Turn it around!" Kia's voice is heard.

"Okay…" the camera turns around to reveal Mick and Aisha sitting a step below Kia.

"Well, let's talk about something!" Kia yells.

"You could tell us how you have beaten up two out of the only five friends you have!" Mick gives Kia an un-amused glare.

"Uh…Aisha, talk about something!" Kia tries to forget and change the subject.

"Mm…Naomi, can you think of something to talk about?" Aisha looks towards the camera.

"Yes…" Naomi's voice responds.

Everyone waits for Naomi to start.

Kia gets annoyed and yells, "Well? Start already!"

"Sorry…but I do not wish to talk right now…" Naomi's voice responds.

"NAOMI!" Kia angrily screams.

"We could just play around a bit!" Mick takes the volleyball out from nowhere.

In reaction, Aisha inches away from Mick…or the ball…or both.

"Stupid!" Kia yells.

"Come on!" Mick tries to calm Kia down. Although everyone else in the group knows that Kia's anger is similar to the attempt of covering a small lie— a bigger lie is needed to keep the small lie seemingly valid.

"GIVE ME THAT!" Kia swipes the volleyball.

"Hey!" Mick reacts, then jumps to the bottom of the stands, which is about two steps away.

"Take this!" Kia hurls the ball at Mick.

"Don't think so!" Mick blocks the ball. However, instead of just falling, it is redirected and heads towards the camera. In the end, the ball knocks the camera to the ground; and all that is seen is static.

"Naomi, are you okay?!" Kia's voice can be heard.

"The camera was just knocked out of my hands. I am not injured, although I do not know if the condition of the camera is well," Naomi's voice can be heard.

"KIA, THE CAMERA **AGAIN?!**" Mick can be heard yelling.

"Mick, please don't—" Aisha can be heard begging.

"AHAHAHAHA! STOP— AHAHAHA— IT— AHAHAHAHA!" Kia can be heard laughing.

"You just don't give up!" Mick's un-amused voice can be heard.

"Turning camera off in 3…2…1…" Naomi can be heard saying, then the screen turns completely black.

* * *

Finally done with chapter 4! 

Wahoo!

Oh, I've decided to leave the Easter Eggs to the later chapters, since I'm busy getting a headache from boredom.

...For anyone who thinks this work is not good, I'm not a good writer. I know that I need to practice my vividness with the scenes, but I'm still learning.

Either way, you can still torch me for not being a decent writer.

Oh, well...Review please!


	5. Akira and the Trivial Course 1

The scene opens up with at the beach. Kia, in a purple two-piece swim suit, can be seen showing off to the children. Aisha, in a red one-piece swim suit, and some other kids can be seen playing with the beach ball. Rika, in a blue two piece swim suit, can be seen digging to make a moat for her sandcastle. Cammy, in a green two-piece swim suit, can be seen digging for clams. Mick, wearing black swimming trunks, can be seen observing them. Apparently, Naomi is holding the camera again.

"So, then, you kids should continue studying and exercising, then you guys can become great like me! Any questions?" Kia continues to show her big ego.

Every kid raises his or her hand.

Kia points to a boy with short brown hair and glasses in front of his brown eyes and wearing blue swimming trunks, "You, what's your question?"

"How old awe you?" he asks.

"I'm thirteen. However, you should never ask a girl her age! It's rude!" Kia rubs her temples and points to a girl with short light brown hair and wearing a pink one-piece swim suit, "Your question."

"How much wiw I have to study?" she asks.

"A lot. However, you need to balance study with exercise! A healthy body can give you a fully functioning mind!" Kia smiles, then points to a girl with short brown hair and brown eyes and wearing a green one-piece swim suit, "Now, you!"

"Oneesan, my parents told me not to exewcise much, 'cause I have a condition! What wiw I do?" she asks.

"Well, that's different. You will just have to focus on studying then. Sorry, I'm smart, but I'm not a doctor," Kia scratches the back of her head, then points to a girl with long black hair tied into twin pigtails and brown eyes and wearing a white two-piece swim suit, "All right…What's your question?"

"My famiwy owns a dojo, and my pawents and oneesan want me to focus on exewcising and inhewiting the dojo. What do I do? They don't weawy want me to put studying first…" she asks.

"That still applies! Balance your time. What I would do is listen to the lectures on a CD and practice at the same time," Kia smiles, then points to a girl with short light brown hair and brown eyes that hardly ever open and wearing a green two-piece swim suit, "What's your question?"

"What about having fun? We won't have time to have fun, if we keep studying!" she asks.

"Well…As I said before, study and exercise. What you are exercising could be something fun. It could be basketball, baseball, soccer, and any other sport you think is fun," Kia explains. After that she looks at the two babies staring at her. One has short blonde hair, green eyes, and tanned skin. She appears to be Indian, due to the jewel-thing on her forehead. In her arms is a little yellow turtle. The other baby has short black hair and brown eyes. She seems quite normal as she sucks on her pacifier.

From nowhere, the last girl who asked a question tugs on Kia's arm. Kia looks at her and responds, "Yes?"

"Will you tew us whewe babies come fwom?" she asks.

"What?" Kia blushes.

"Yeah! Whewe do babies come fwom?" the boy asks.

Soon, all of the other kids are asking.

Kia uses a stern voice, "Absolutely not! I won't—"

"Head's up!" someone yells to Kia.

A beach ball heads straight for Kia and hits her in the head. She hits the sandy ground, "Ara? _(Huh?)_"

"Kia are you okay?" Aisha and a group of kids surround Kia.

"What?" Kia says in a daze.

"Medic!" Mick jokingly yells.

"Medic ready…" Naomi's voice is heard, and the camera moves closer to Kia.

Once the camera is closest to Kia, the camera is handed to someone else and turns to Naomi, who is wearing a blue shirt underneath it is a black swim suit. Whether it is a one-piece or two-piece cannot be certain.

"What does this button do?" the voice of the one who asked Kia advice about her health condition asks.

A click is heard, and the screen turns black.

_**

* * *

**_

* * *

_**DAY 1**_

In the late afternoon outside a decent-looking yellow three-story house, a number of men take boxes out from a truck and into the house. Inside the house, the men are bringing the boxes to the second floor of the house. Akira lifelessly sits on the couch near the plasma HDTV. Malin, however, is spending her time in her room doing homework.

Eventually, one of the men tells Akira that all of the boxes have been left in the second floor room, which is Akira's temporary new room. Akira breaks out his trance and thanks them before asking them to leave. Apparently, the men are employed under Adelheid.

Once they have left, Akira slowly walks up the stairs to his new room. He opens the door to find the room, which happens to be around one-third the size of his room in the Sky Noah, empty except for the boxes, the bookcases, the tables, and the bed. Akira sighs and proceeds to unpack everything. In three boxes, he finds five hundred volumes of different manga. In another box, he finds his clothes and five pairs of shoes. In the rest, he finds more anime memorabilia, manga memorabilia, game memorabilia, more than a thousand anime DVDs, four sketchbooks, a set of pencils, more clothes, a number of costumes for cosplay, a baseball, two baseball bats, an MP3 player, a PS2, a number of Sony PS2 game disks, a Sony PSP, a set of headphones, two bottles of shampoo, three bars of soap, other things for hygienic usage, a potted pink rose, a couple of satchels containing a variety of flower seeds, and other things.

After a few hours, Malin stretches her arms and gets off her seat. To check up on Akira, she leaves her room on the third floor. She makes it to the door of the up-until-now unused bedroom and pulls the door to leave a crack large enough for her to peek through. She finds Akira placing several stuffed toys on the shelves of one of the bookcases. Curious, Malin opens the door, then points to Akira and yells, "SEE?! YOU'RE NOT A NORMAL GUY!"

A surprised Akira jumps forward and bumps the bookcase. He quickly pushes it before it could fall. After giving a sigh of relief, he turns to Malin and replies, "Sorry."

"What for? That bookcase is yours, not mine!" Malin laughs, as she enters the room.

"Ah, _about the kiss_…" Akira raises his head, then looks at the floor again, "…Nothing…"

"Right…So, you really aren't a normal guy!" Malin marches towards the bookcase filled with plushies.

"EH?" Akira reacts and watches Malin take a Sakura (from Card Captor Sakura) plushie.

"I mean, guys aren't supposed to have these stuffed toys in their rooms!" Malin shows the plushie to him, "This spells 'I am gay and love cute things!'"

"That is a plushie…" Akira grabs the plushie and returns it to its spot in the bookcase, "…of one of my favorite anime— CCS."

"Whatever. You're still not a real guy because of this!" Malin giggles.

"H-How does possessing plushies make me not a guy?!"

"Simple: guys don't love cute things! They should love fighting or gambling!"

"…And you think I don't like fighting because…"

"You keep running away from Kasumi-chan!"

From that answer, Akira felt a barbecue skewer pierce through him. He explains, "I don't hate fighting, but I don't love it either. Besides, I don't enjoy fighting girls."

"Oh?" Malin, pissed off by Akira's explanation, responds, "**You think that we are inferior?! Or that we aren't strong!?! Or maybe you think that we won't even put up a challenge to your omnipotence!?!**"

"A-Ah, nothing like that! It just—"

"JUST?"

"…just that I have been taught to respect women and never hurt them."

"That's it?!"

"I have been following that rule all my life…_up until a few days ago when…_" Akira answers, then looks at the floor.

Malin sighs and pats Akira's back, "You're just a good guy, aren't you?"

"_Really?_" Akira feels that somehow his painful skewer has vanished.

After losing patience waiting for Akira to reply, she continues, "I'll take that as a 'yes'! However, that still means that you're still not a normal guy!"

Akira falls down and realizes that the skewer was just replaced by a giant two-ton sandbag. After crawling out of the sandbag in his mind, he snaps back, "**HOW?!**"

"I'll say it again:" Malin puts her hands on her hips, closes her eyes and shakes her head, "Guys, don't love stuffed toys or plushies or whatever these are, right?"

"I just have a soft spot for them, **OKAY?!**"

"Another point!" Malin stops and points to Akira's face.

Akira looks at her finger and steps back.

"You should be reading porn or at least be talking about girls at your age, right?"

"Why? Do you?" Akira retorts, trying to dodge her point.

"I'm not a guy, am I?" Malin shrugs, then walks to the other bookcase filled with books.

"True…"

Malin takes one of the books and flip through pages and realizes that it is just manga. "And you shouldn't be reading this manga crap either!" she tosses a volume of Samurai Deeper Kyo.

"Hey!" Akira picks it up and returns it back to its proper place.

Malin sighs from annoyance and pulls out a certain magazine from out of nowhere.

After looking at what is in Malin's hand, Akira jumps back and walks backwards towards the wall. By walking backwards, he accidentally trips over his bed, so he crawls to the wall, as far away from Malin as he could, "**S-S-S-SORE WA! **_**(T-T-T-THAT'S!)**_"

"If you're a normal guy you should read this!" Malin slowly walks towards Akira.

"**DAME! **_**(NO WAY!)**_ If those are the conditions, I am in no way a normal guy, then!" Akira yells.

"I'm ordering you to read it! Now read it!" Malin is now in front of Akira.

"**IIE! **_**(NO!)**_" Akira stands up and yells at Malin's face.

"Read it!" Malin shoves the magazine to his face.

Akira slaps it away but not hard enough for Malin to let go of it, "**DAME DESU! **_**(NO WAY!)**_"

"**Read it!**" Malin shakes the magazine in her hand.

"**BAKA DA YO! (**_**RIDICULUOUS!)**_" Akira snaps back.

Malin sighs in false defeat and walks to the bed. She sits down and stares at Akira, "So, you don't like reading about it, right? _Maybe if I…he'll do just about anything I want! Even read it!_"

"**HELL, NO, I DON'T WANT TO READ IT!!!**" Akira takes a step forward, closes his eyes, and yells.

"I guess…" Malin, trying to trick Akira into reading it, unbuttons the top button of her blouse, "You want to see the real thing!"

"Nani sore? _(What was that?)_" Akira opens his eyes and blushes stronger than other human beings.

"Just wait…_What a loser!_" Malin has her hands on the hem of her blouse and pulls it slightly over her head.

Akira falls slightly back when he suddenly started to nosebleed. After regaining his balance, he wipes the blood off his nose and, in an attempt to stop her, jumps at Malin and grabs her hands, "**WAAAH!!! DAME DA!!! **_**(DON'T!!!)**_"

"WAA!" Malin yelps, once Akira crashes into her.

As a result, they both fall to the floor. Akira, who still has his eyes closed, has long let go of Malin's hands. "_Weird…something doesn't feel right…It actually feels really smooth and warm._"

"A…" Malin blushes. She looks at where Akira's hands are, then turns red out of embarrassment and rage. "…**KIRA-KUN!!!**"

"Eh?" Akira opens his eyes one at a time and realizes what was wrong. One of his hands is holding on to not only her blouse, but also her side. The other was doing the same, but on her belly. Both happened to be very close to her bra.

"**KISAMA!!! **_**(YOU!!!)**_" Malin tries to get up, but Akira, who still has his hands on top of her, is in a state of shock. "**GET OFF!**"

With that, Akira snaps back to his senses. He quickly lets Malin go and slowly walks backwards towards the door, "A-A-A-Ah, i-i-it could be worse, r-right?"

Malin gets up and pulls her blouse down, so that her navel would not be showing. With holy wrath, she leers at him and explodes, "**BASTARD!**"

"…N-No, it couldn't, right…" Akira feels around the wall for the door and the doorknob.

Malin charges at Akira, the second he finds the doorknob. She grabs the collar of his shirt and hurls him to the bookcase full of manga, "**HENTAI! **_**(PERVERTED!)**_"

Akira crashes to the bookcase. Once he hits the ground, the dazed Akira could not notice that the book case is tipping and falling. It crashes on Akira who let out a muffled "…Gomen… _(…Sorry…)_"

After scoffing and exiting the room, she slams the door. She walks down to the first floor to prepare dinner, but a thought occurs to her.

"Maybe, he purposely did that …Nice try, Akira-kun!That's really brave of you!" Malin blushes and nods.

On her way to the fridge, she finds that the chicken she was going to defrost and chop has already been done so. She looks around and finds a sticky-note on the cupboard's door. She takes it and reads,

"_I guessed that_

_this would be dinner._

_So, I took the preempted_

_and did this for you._

_Sorry, again._

—_Akira"_

Malin sighs and smiles towards the stairs, although she is slightly annoyed at Akira's continuously apologizing.

_**MARK OF THE GENOCIDER 5**_

Akira, however, has not moved an inch. Not because the bookcase and volumes of manga are too heavy for him to get up, but because he is unconscious.

Later that night, after Malin has finished preparing dinner, she gets annoyed of waiting for Akira and decides to look for him. "_If he's just lying around reading those manga, I'm gonna throw him off the window!_"

Once she enters, she finds that the room is just as she left it. "_The picture frames are still hanging unleveled. The plushies are still sitting on the bookcase. The bed is still ruffled from that. Akira-kun is still stuck under the—_ !!! AKIRA-KUN!!!" she yells and tries to push the bookcase off of him. She manages to lift it a little, but its gross weight added with the weight of some of the manga volumes that are still on its shelves proves too heavy for her to lift.

After three minutes of swearing and failed attempts, Malin sees that Akira has woken up.

Akira yawns and, with no difficulty, lifts the bookcase.

Malin stares at him for a minute and punches him. As a result, he hits the bookcase again, but he manages to keep it balanced. Malin yells, "You idiot! I was worried all this time, and you were just taking a nap!?"

"You knocked me unconscious!" Akira snaps back.

"Whatever! Dinner's ready. So, take yours and go to bed!" Malin has her fist clenched.

"Okay…" Akira blankly replies.

Malin scoffs and makes her way downstairs.

Akira is still clueless to why she happened to be concerned one second and enraged the next.

That night, they ate dinner and turned in. A typical uneventful day…if one considers that first day is going to be just like as the rest.

_**

* * *

**__**DAY 2**_

That morning, Malin wakes up, then yawns and rubs her eyes. She is awake this early since she is still in high school. Whereas, Akira has already graduated high school but does not want to go to college. She leaves her room and heads straight to the bathroom for a shower. Once she opens the door, she notices that the doorknob is still broken. She yawns and enters. After she closes the door, the sound of the lock of the doorknob clicks.

A few minutes later, Akira wakes up and blindly looks for the bathroom, "_I need to get a shower…Now, where's the bathroom in this house?_"

After wandering for half a minute, he somehow finds the bathroom and turns the doorknob to open the door, despite the fact that it has been locked. He rubs his eyes, and his hearing kicks in. He hears the sound of running water. He looks up but is still half-asleep. So, he could not distinguish reality from his dream, at that point.

Malin turns to find someone looking at her…

From the outside, one would think that nothing is wrong, until…

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!**" Malin screams her head off.

Akira jumps back and is now wide awake but still has not noticed anything, "NANI NANI!!! _(What? WHAT?!)_"

"**GET THE HELL OUT OF THE BATHROOM, PERV!!!**" Malin flings soups, shampoo bottles, knives and yoyos from hammerspace, and anything else that she could find at Akira.

"Chi—! Gomen. Gomen! _(Oops! Sorry. SORRY!)_" Akira puts his right forearm over his eyes and uses his freehand to protect his head. In his attempt to leave the room, he trips over a bar of soap and crashes to the door. In reaction, he grabs the doorknob, so that he could keep his balance; but the door, which already has a broken doorknob, has weak hinges, which gave way the second Akira held on the doorknob.

Well…continuing. During breakfast, Malin, who is still pissed at Akira for not only his taking a peek of her in the shower (although he was either partially blind or covering his eyes the entire time) but for also braking the bathroom door, is eating the pancakes she had forced Akira to cook. Akira, also eating pancakes, has a lot of bandages from the injuries caused by the barrage of soaps, bottles, and hammerspace-originated knives and yoyos. Although they had that dysfunctional occurrence earlier that morning, the two are able to get along well at the table. However, Akira is wondering why Malin is wearing what appears to be a school uniform.

After breakfast, Malin takes her bag and heads for the door, "Keep the house fine while I'm out, okay?"

"Wha—? Where are you going?" Akira, carrying a toolkit, responds.

"To school, duh!" Malin replies as she ties the laces of her shoes.

"To…school? _You haven't graduated yet? How old are you?_" Akira still has no idea that Malin is still sixteen.

"Since I'm sixteen, I'm still a high school student!" Malin says, as if she had read his mind, and holds onto the doorknob of the front door.

"So, when we were knocked unconscious…and when you helped me move in…_I got her absent those days?! I'm the worst! The absolute worst! I have absolutely got to be the worst…um…friend…I think…EVER!_" Akira freezes.

"Yeah, pretty much. Just make sure you don't destroy anything, okay?" Malin glares at Akira, then opens the door.

"S-Suma! Ano… _(S-Sorry! Um…)_ is there anything else you want me to do while you're out?" Akira returns to reality.

Malin places her finger on the side of her mouth and thinks, "Hmm…_He could…_"

"Malin-chan? _Why do I feel like I shouldn't have asked that?_"

"Yeah! After you finish fixing the door, clean the living room!" Malin's eyes sparkle.

"Huh?"

"While you're at it, clean the windows!"

"Um…"

"Oh, and do the laundry and clean what other place should be cleaned! One more thing: for dinner, roast half of the ham in the fridge, okay?"

"…Am I your butler?"

"Uh…D-Don't worry! I'll clean when I don't have to go to school!"

"But I have— Wait a minute, won't that only be Saturday and Sunday?"

"Uh…" Malin just stands near the open door for a while, "OKAY! Ittekimasu! _(I'm off!)_" Malin makes a break for it.

"Ma-Malin-chan, I— Itterashai! _(Take care!)_— have a list of things I shouldn't do!" Akira basically talks to the closed door. In his hand is a list of things that read:

"1. Don't do her laundry.

2. Don't handle her clothes.

3. Don't touch her clothes.

4. Don't ever **ever** EVER **EVER** touch…those…clothes."

Malin was not too far off on Akira's not being a normal guy in more than one aspect. In this case, he is too shy and overly respecting and cannot touch or look at girl's undergarments. He is similar to having the mind of a grade school student in that matter.

"Okay…I'll just go fix that door now!" Akira rushes to the bathroom…or the outside it rather.

After thirty minutes of smashing his thumb and attempting to cover the circular mark on the door, Akira decides to do the laundry.

"Well, it's a good thing I brought a laundry hamper…and it's also a good thing that Nee-san's words— '**Never leave a mess! You're a guest in someone else's home. So, don't be a slob!'**— are stapled to my mind; otherwise, I'll be stuck picking up my clothes for the rest of the day!" Akira laughs, as he carries the hamper to the laundry room.

As he enters the laundry room, he abruptly stops and comes to a realization: "_WHAT ABOUT MALIN-CHAN'S CLOTHES?!_"

He leaves the hamper on the floor and heads to the third floor of the house. As he runs up the stairs, he prays that Malin is a tidy person. He reaches for the doorknob of the door to Malin's room and turns it. As he enters the room, he turns the light on, then looks around. It turns out that Malin is tidy, except for the loads of stationary around and on her computer table. He finds her clothes hamper and quickly closes it. "_I should never have accepted this chore! Oh, wait…she ordered me to…_"

Due to his shyness and paranoia, Akira looks around to see if anyone is watching, although he is the only one in the house. His eyes freeze to a bit of cloth on the foot of Malin's bed. He takes a closer look, then jumps back and trips over the hamper. The end result: the clothes flew everywhere. Akira screams his head off. After slapping himself twice, he quickly returns all the clothes that have flown out of the hamper. He closes it again but remembers the other one that he forgot. He walks towards it and tries to accomplish this part of his order. He reaches for it slowly but freezes about a foot away from it.

"Damn it! Come on, Akira, you can do this! Malin-chan did tell you that you did touch her bra…yes…ter…day…ri….ght? **AHHH!!! THAT'S THE MOST PERVERTED LINE I'VE EVER SAID IN MY LIFE, SO FAR!!!** Okay…Wait a minute…But that's not a— That's a!…**Oh, great…NOW THIS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT LEVEL OF PERVERTION!**"

Meanwhile, at Malin's high school, Malin is listening to a lecture from her history teacher, who has a monotone voice and is pretty much talking to the whiteboard. If one would look around, many of the other students are all either asleep or talking or doing other less boring things. Malin finally gets bored and sleepy and decides to lay her head down, until the bell suddenly rings for lunch. At an instant, every student makes for the door and for the cafeteria. Malin takes her bag and dashes out. She runs down two flights of stairs and makes it to the hallway. She dashes through the hallway and accidentally bumps into a senior. As a result, the senior falls down and drops all of the books she was holding.

Malin stops and apologizes, "Sorry! Here, let me help!"

"Thanks…" the senior gets up and adjusts her glasses. Her long purplish-black hair covers most of her face, but she has a lovely voice.

After Malin has picked all of the senior's books up, she turns to look at her face, "Hey, you look almost like Athena-chan!"

She scoffs, "That Athena-san is nothing more than a self-serving airhead with no regard to other people! I look nothing like her!"

"Sorry…Um…I'm just gonna go to lunch now!" Malin dashes away.

"…Malin, a junior…tactical and deceptive in fights…We will meet in the next King of Fighters tournament. Until then, thanks, for your help," the senior walks away, until her cellphone rings and breaks the tension.

"Hello? Oh! So, you've allowed me to see them?" she answers her cellphone, as she walks away, "No, that won't be a problem! Actually, I…"

"I'VE GOT IT!" Akira picks it up by the use of a wooden pole.

"It's less soul-cracking this way, right?" Akira opens the hamper with the aid of the pole and puts it in.

"Now, then laundry!" Akira carries the hamper to the laundry room.

Once he finally reaches it, he loads his clothes in the washing machine and does his laundry first.

After a while of waiting, he leaves to clean the living room.

After ordering and receiving her lunch, which is fried chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, French fries, and a can of Pepsi, Malin looks for familiar faces. She finds Kasumi, another girl with long purplish-black hair, and a guy with short brown hair eating at one table. Kasumi looks up and motions Malin to join them. Malin obliges and walks to the table. After setting her tray down and sitting, she begins to scarf down her lunch. In reaction to Malin's way of eating, the purplish-black-haired girl giggles a little.

Malin glares at her and remembers, "Hey, Athena-chan, while I was on my way to the cafeteria, I bumped into someone that looked a little like you!"

"Heh, sorry, Malin-chan. That won't work on me! Athena is the only one I who I can see!" the brown-haired guy laughs.

After receiving peculiar stares from everyone around him, save Athena who shakes her head in embarrassment, he coughs and says, "I meant that she's the only Athena— pop goddess, hottie, my—"

"Okay, just stop, Kensou!" Athena snaps.

"Stopping…" Kensou replies.

"I wonder who that is…" Kasumi thinks aloud.

"Don't know, but she hates Athena-chan," Malin replies after taking a drink.

"Athena, do you have any ideas on that may be?" Kasumi asks.

"Nope, but most likely, she hates me because of Kensou," Athena laughs, then turns to Kensou, "Who have you bothered this time, Kensou?"

"No one! And I have no idea why anyone would hate you," Kensou answers.

"Riiight…" Athena un-amused-ly looks at Kensou..

Akira finishes cleaning the living room and begins working on the windows. Fortunately, he listens very well to orders. He starts at the third floor windows, starting with Malin's room. He believes that as long as he is not touching her other possessions, she would not get mad. He manages to use a mixture of detergents that leaves the square windows sparkling like ice. After cleaning, he trips over something under the rug.

"What?" Akira yelps and finds the rug unleveled, as if something is underneath it.

He lifts the rug and finds a little red book. Without looking at the front cover, he opens the book. The first page he looked at stated,

"_Saturday, March 17, 200X (Sunny)_

_Sorry, for not writing in such a long time. I was held up in an airship! It was amazing, but we weren't flying. Anyway, after breakfast, Eiji resigned from our team! Can you believe that?! Yeah, I thought so, too! After Kasumi-chan drank her weight in green tea, she and I headed to the park to clear our minds. It was actually a good thing that we went to the park, since Hinako-chan wanted to join our team! Well, because of that we had to change the team name from Anti-Kyokugenryu to High School Girls. I think Athena-chan would be mad to not be on a team with this name! After that, Kasumi got mad at me for taking a trip to Angens. Can you believe that?! Good food is more important than that! Anyway, I ran like hell and bumped into a guy, probably a year older than me. He was carrying a lot of boxes, so I helped him out…until Kasumi-chan found me. However, she didn't mind once Akira-kun (the guy with the packages) wanted to treat us to lunch! YAY! Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to describe every new person I meet. Well, that day, Akira-kun was wearing…brown rubber shoes, long blue jeans that seemed a little tight, a white shirt (nothing special), a blue jacket made of the same jean fabric (whatever it's called), and a black pendant necklace (which complemented his deep brown eyes and long black hair— not that long though). As for my first impression, I thought that he would be one of those busy worry-warts that are too absorbed into jobs that they don't care about the feelings of others. Actually, once I got to know him better, he is one of those—_"

Akira quickly closes it and returns it under the rug. Akira was so absorbed into reading that he has not instantly realized that the book he has been reading is Malin's diary. Akira decides to go back to cleaning.

Next is the guest room, which happens to be larger than Akira's current room. He looks around and finds the room very clean. Apparently, Malin's clean the guest room regularly. He moves towards one of the windows and proceeds with the cleaning.

Afterwards, without any mishaps, he cleans the rest of the windows in the house.

At this time, Malin and the rest of her class are taking a quiz in Pre-Calculus. Um…this is pretty boring and uneventful. Going back to Akira…

Akira is cleaning the living room and does not seem to be having any problems…BORING! Skipping to near the end of the day!

Malin greets her friends "good-bye", before leaving the school grounds. After a while, she walks by an ice cream shoppé. She stops and looks through the window. She stares at the ice cream and quickly enters the shoppé. She buys a cone of strawberry and chocolate ice cream. While the ice cream guy gets Malin her cone, she notices a tattoo on his wrist. The tattoo is written in kanji and, in English, meant "No Flames." Malin giggles a little and observes the ice cream guy. He has short blue hair and a hat that just about every ice cream seller has. His eyes are so light blue that one would believe that they were gray and he was blind. He has a decent build and is a little tall. His tanned skin tone makes him seem like a lifeguard, all that is missing are the sunglasses, the sun block, and the ability to attract almost any girl. He hands her the cone, and she hands him the payment. After receiving her change, she leaves and slurps her ice cream.

On her way home, she passes by a public bulletin board. She turns to look at one some of them and finds one about an anime convention. Annoyed, she takes it out and, without crumpling or tearing it, throws it to the wind. Malin is not a big fan of anime…or rather, she hates it.

Upon reaching her house, she opens the door but finds Akira nowhere in sight. However, she can tell that he is in the kitchen, due to the scent of roasted ham in the air.

"Tadaima! _(I'm home!)_" she yells.

Akira, who is in the kitchen freezes but manages to respond, "O-Ok-Okairinasai… _(W-Wel-Welcome home…)_"

Malin drops her bag on the living room couch, then walks to the kitchen and pats Akira's back, "I'm glad that you're willingly cooking this time!"

Akira, unfortunately, cannot absorb any of the praise, since he is still wondering about Malin's laundry, "E— Ho-Hontou desu ka. _(Ah— Re-Really?)_"

"Yep! Did you do the laundry, anyway?" Malin asks, as if she had known everything that he has done for the day.

Akira just freezes but manages to nod.

"Great! I'll check the washing machine. Just to make sure you didn't destroy it!" Malin runs to laundry room.

"_I-Ikene! (Crap!)_" Akira falls apart and tries to stop Malin but fails.

Malin looks at the washing machine and still find some clothes inside. She instantly notices that all are her clothes. She turns to Akira and asks, "Akira-kun, why are my clothes still in the machine?"

"A-A-A-Ah, ge-getting washed?" Akira's voice begins cracking.

"The machine's off," with an un-amused tone, Malin points out.

"Uh…" Akira is in a loss for words.

"Akira-kun…" Malin uses a stern voice.

"I can't do it, okay?! No matter how much I try, I can't!" Akira falls to his knees.

"_Could it be that he doesn't want to touch girls' clothes?_" Malin thinks then responds, "Akira-kun, if you're that innocent, I don't think that just one month would be enough to help you!"

"WHAT?!" Akira screams.

Everything else after that is pretty much normal…or Akira's version of normal, at least.

_**

* * *

**__**DAY 3**_

Akira wakes up to the new day. He heads to the bathroom to take a shower; but, upon reaching the door, he slaps himself to become completely active. With his senses working at 100, he listens carefully and hears the sound running water. Akira sighs and walks down the stairs to the living room. He sits on the couch and hits the power button for the remote of the TV. He watches "Kicking and Screaming" on HBO, as he waits for Malin to finish her shower. After a while, he becomes hungry. He walks to the kitchen and finds pancake mix, remaining from the day before. So, he decides to make some for breakfast.

After thirty minutes, Malin walks down the stairs and looks for Akira and breakfast. She finds Akira waiting for her and breakfast was not too far off. Actually, it is already on the table.

She greets Akira, "Ohayou _('morning!)_ , Akira-kun!"

"A— Ohayou _(A— 'morning)_, Malin-chan…" Akira manages to say.

She takes her seat and, before eating, says, "Itadakimasu! _(Let's eat!)_"

"Itadakimasu _(Let's eat!)_," he says at the same time.

Breakfast was not very eventful that day. After breakfast, Malin heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth. In the kitchen, Akira takes the plates to the sink and cleans the table. After a while, Malin runs down the stairs and goes to the front door.

"Ano… _(Um…)_ Malin-chan, anything I…should do today?" Akira asks hesitantly.

"If you want to go out, it's okay. Make sure you lock up though, okay?" Malin walks to the table at the corner of the living room. She picks up the spare key hidden behind a picture of Malin and her friends playing in the park.

"Okay…" he responds.

"Catch!" Malin throws the key to Akira, "Don't lose that, okay?!"

"A-A— Ee… _(A-Um— Okay…)_" Akira backs up.

Malin runs to the front door and opens it, "Ittekimasu! _(I'm off!)_"

"Itterashai! _(Take care!)_" Akira replies.

Malin smiles and runs outside then closes the door.

"…I'll just go take a shower now," Akira walks to the bathroom.

After showering, drying off, brushing his teeth, and changing his clothes, he takes his wallet, his cellphone, and a shoulder-bag (one of the kinds for school use). He prepares a few sandwiches and puts some orange juice in a water bottle. He packs a notebook, the sandwiches, and the water bottle into his bag. After checking to see if has forgotten anything, he heads outside and locks the door.

He decides to look around the Southtown for a while. As he walks around, he bumps into a little girl. The girl appears to be nine-years-old and has long purple hair and dark blue eyes. She does not seem to mind being bumped into but appears to be searching for something.

"Excuse me, are you looking for something?" Akira asks.

"Huh? I'm looking for someone," she answers.

Akira notices that she is alone, "Uh…your parents or your elder sibling? Besides, if my little sister were lost, I would stop at nothing to find her! _…Aki-chan…_"

"…No, I'm not lost! I just don't know where I am! Um…do you know a person named Yagami Iori?"

"Sorry, I don't," Akira replies, "Is there anything I can do?"

The girl grabs his arm and asks, "Yeah! Oniisan _(Big brother)_, can I come with you? I think I can find him, if I'm with you!"

"What makes you so sure?"

"I don't…I'm just guessing, Oniisan," she smiles.

"…Sure…Um…I'm Harima Akira."

"I'm Terra!"

"Um…that Iori…What does she look like?"

"Huh? Iori-sama is a guy!"

"That's odd…'Iori' is normally a girl's name…Okay, what does he look like?"

"…Um…He has read hair…"

"Yes."

"Brown eyes."

"Mm."

"Lightly tanned skin."

"Ee."

"A black shirt with a moon on the back."

"_What?_ Okay," Akira winces.

"Red pants with a cord binding them together."

"Okay…_Basically, the kind of person I'd find in anime or games!_" Akira drops his hands.

"And can use bluish-purple flames."

"Uh…_Yep, I'm right!_" Akira's bag hits the ground.

"Where do we start searching?"

"I'll ask around. Until then, stay close, okay?" Akira picks up his bag and turns to find a place where can attain information about this "Yagami Iori."

After two hours of searching, they stop to eat at KFC. Not very eventful. After three more hours of fruitless effort, Akira finds a pub. He looks at the sign: "La Illusion" and decides to check if anyone inside knows of Yagami Iori. He tells Terra to stay outside, since she is obviously underage. Akira, however, is seventeen; but there are not that many people who can see the age differences between seventeen and nineteen. He enters and finds the place peaceful— no roughhousing and no excessive smoking. He thought too soon and finds some guys telling the owner that they are not going to pay. The owner has short blond hair and brown eyes and wore a purple pub-owner's suit. The owner is not that tall and not that short either. She seems to look almost like a guy.

"Look here, boy! I ain't gonna squat to some loser kid with no sense of breaking out!" one guy yells.

"Yeah! This shitty bar of yours is a waste of space!" another one yells.

"Kid, I ain't paying to a guy with balls as big as a peanut!" another one laughs.

"…**I am a woman!**" the owner explodes with flames and lighting.

"_I knew it…_" Akira stares at the scene.

"Damn! You have got to be the most tomboyish girl I've ever seen!" the first one yells.

"You interested?" the third one asks the second one.

"Nah! I'm interested in this girl!" the second one gawking at the person sitting beside him.

"Excuse me?" the one being gawked at responds, as he un-crosses his legs. He has long brown hair, except for two long purple braids on opposite sides oh his head. He is wearing a yellow suit and tight blue pants.

"You're excused, gorgeous!" the idiot replies.

"I am a **man**!" the guy replies.

"_It's pretty obvious…_" Akira lets out a chuckle.

"Shit! What is wrong with this bar?!" the third one yells, then looks to where the chuckle is originating.

The three turn to Akira and leer at him.

"Eh?" Akira steps back.

"You think something's funny, boy?" the first one gets up.

"Huh?" Akira feels a table behind him.

"This kid is askin' for a pounding!" the third one cracks his knuckles.

"_Malin-chan…If I don't make out of this alive…I've always wanted to tell you…__**that you are insane for making me enroll in this stupid course!**__ And…I'm really sorry for being such a burden and lousy friend…_" Akira gets ready to fight.

The three thugs jump at Akira but all were taken down invisibly and instantly…and Akira is not even the one who fought. Akira looks around and finds a waitress concealing a dagger and the guy, who was being gawked at earlier, stretching his arms. Akira nods in thanks at both of them and walks to the bar and takes a seat. He turns and sees the waitress from before and another waitress mopping the thugs out the pub.

"Anything you'd like?" the owner asks.

"Uh…_Funny, I'm not scared of her_…I'm just looking for someone, sorry…" Akira tries not to make any contact to her brown eyes.

"Sorry, but I don't sell information, kid…especially to one's underage," the owner replies.

Akira is surprised to find someone, who could see the difference, and looks up, "H-How did you know?"

"I'm a pub owner! I wouldn't be a very good one, if I couldn't tell the difference between a seventeen-year-old and an eighteen-year-old!" she explains.

"I see…Miss—"

"King."

"Excuse me?"

"King. Call me 'King'."

"King-san, I'm just trying to help a little girl find someone."

"Really?" King says in an un-amused tone. Apparently, she may have heard a line like that before.

"I'm not lying. She's outside right now! Alone…"

"Sanko, check to see if there's a little girl who is all alone and waiting outside!" King yells to the waitress that helped Akira out of that jam.

Sanko nods and checks. She returns and gestures that there is no such person there.

"What?!" Akira jumps off his seat and checks for himself. He finds the little girl talking to a redhead man who fits everything that Terra described Yagami Iori would be, although he still has not seen any bluish-purple flames yet.

Terra turns and sees Akira and waves, "Harima-san! This is Iori-sama!"

"Yoroshiku onegashimasu _(It's a pleasure to meet you)_, Yagami-san," Akira extends his hand to Iori.

Iori scoffs and glares, then barks, "Thanks for helping her…"

"_K-Kowaii desu!_" Akira freezes from the glare.

"Yay!" Terra cheers.

"Um…if I may…what is your relation to Terra-chan?" Akira shivers.

"She's—" Iori explains.

"My fiancé!" Terra interrupts.

"Eh?" Akira is dumbfounded.

"…A distant relative…Nothing more," Iori continues, then turns to leave, "Time to go, Terra!"

"Um, bye-bye, Harima-san! Here's my cellphone number, if you want to come by and visit!" Terra hands Akira a piece of paper on which is her cellphone number, then runs toward Iori.

"Ee…Ja ne! _(Yeah…Later!)_" Akira waves to her.

Terra turns and waves back.

"…Well, I'll just go talk to King-san about this…" Akira walks back inside the pub.

Before Akira takes his seat, King asks him, "How did you become friends with someone like Iori?"

Akira takes his seat and asks, "You know Yagami-san?"

"Yeah, he enjoys incinerating anyone who bothers him!"

"What? _So, he can use flames!_"

"I'm amazed that you're friends with someone like that, um…"

"Akira. Harima Akira. Sorry for the late introduction," Akira extends his hand to King.

"Akira, then," King shakes his hand, then lets go, "So, how did you become friends with that maniac?"

"Oh, I'm not a friend of his. That was the person Terra was looking for."

"Terra is that little girl you were talking about?"

"Yes, I just met her today. She asked me to help look for Iori; so, I decided to help."

"Either way, I'm still amazed that he didn't torch you for bothering him!"

"How have I bothered him?!"

"I don't know, but he looked a little angry to me!"

"Okay…I think…"

"Watch yourself, okay?" the guy from earlier finishes his drink and places his payment, which consisted of ones and fives only, on the table, then leaves.

King counts the money that the guy has paid.

"Who is that guy, anyway?" Akira asks.

"A guy who owes me sixty bucks!" King answers, then snaps her fingers and yells to the two waitresses, "Sanko, Amelia!"

"Ha _(Sir!)_," Sanko answers.

"Hai! _(Yes?)_" the other waitress answers.

King points outside, "Get that—"

"It's okay!" Akira stops her.

King yells, "The hell, it's not okay! That guy—"

Akira puts sixty dollars on the table, "I'll pay. He did help me out of that predicament earlier, after all."

King sighs and gestures to the waitresses to go back to doing what they were doing, "You're a kind person. First, you help a little girl. Now, you pay half that guy's tab. I'm curious to see what you'll do next!"

"Thanks…I think…" Akira replies, then hears the message alert tone ("_Hitomi no Naka no Meikyuu_") of his cellphone. Akira takes his cellphone out and reads: "_Wat tym wil u b coming back?_"

"It's from Malin-chan…" Akira thinks aloud.

"You know Malin, as well?" King asks.

"Yes…What of it?" Akira replies as he sends his reply to Malin, "_N an hr…_"

"Well, during the last King of Fighters Tournament, she was the leader of the team who pretty much hated the team I was in," King explains.

"Hated?" Akira asks, then reads Malin's reply, "_OK! Malin-chan wil prepare fish for dinnr, OK?_"

"Yeah, her team was called, 'Anti-Kyokugenryu Team'; and two of the members of the team I was in are from the Kyokugenryu dojo," King explains.

"You don't say…" Akira replies and sends another reply, "_OK!_"

"So, how do you know her?" King asks.

"A friend, I guess," Akira answers.

"How did you meet?"

"She helped me a little. So, I treated her and her friends to lunch…"

"You really are a kind person!"

"Thanks…Um, Sorry to this conversation short, but I must be going now, King-san," Akira stands up.

"Bye, Akira. By the way, it wasn't that short; and if you have any problems, you can come back here…but I still won't allow you to drink, all right?"

"All right, I will— um…okay. Until then, later!" Akira walks out the pub unscathed. After he walks a few blocks, he finds the guy who left without paying half his bill leaning on a white two-story building and painfully clutching to the right side of his waist.

He looks at Akira, "You paid bill, huh?"

"Yep," Akira replies.

"Thanks. The name's Shion, and you?" he asks.

"Harima Akira…_Hm? Is there something wrong with him?_" Akira notices that Shion is clutching to his side again.

Shion coughs, "The price you pay for making a pact with an Orochi."

"Orochi? Hm…the legendary serpent from ancient Japan?"

"Yes, but I'll talk to you about this the next time we meet, since I seem to be eating up your time…" Shion sighs and stretches.

"Oh, it's—" Akira blinks and finds that Shion has disappeared, "Doko ni— Hen da ne… _(Where did— So weird…)_"

As Akira makes his way back to Malin's house, he passes by an ice cream shoppé. He looks at the door, which is wide open. Curiously, he looks inside and sees someone who looks like Terra snacking on ice cream.

"Terra-chan?" Akira enters and walks towards the girl.

Terra's hands and mouth are covered in melted ice cream, "Harima-san!"

Akira takes a few steps back, due to his intolerance to messiness from food, "T-Terra-chan, where is Yagami-san?"

"Iori-sama? He's playing with Ace-san!" Terra smiles and takes another scoop of ice cream from the display.

"Terra-chan…who is paying for all this ice cream?" a concerned Akira asks her.

"I think Ace-san's boss will just deduck this from his salawy!" Terra smiles again and slurps on more ice cream.

"Deduct? Maybe, you should call up another employee…I'll pay for this," Akira offers.

"Okay!" Terra gets up and opens a door that is only to be entered by authorized personnel, then looks back to Akira, "What's an 'enpluye'?"

Akira smacks his forehead and looks for one himself, "Hello? May I see who is selling the ice cream right now?"

At that moment, a guy comes out the "authorized personnel only" room and says, "Yes, sir? What seems to be the problem?"

"Uh…are you Ace?" Akira asks him.

"No, sir; but he should be the one holding the fort at this time," the man replies.

"Okay…How much do you think this will cost?" Akira points to the ice cream on the floor and on Terra.

The man looks at the ice cream on display and tries not to explode but is obviously twitching, "Sir, you owe us $249.75!"

"…Terra-chan, how long has in been since Ace-san left?" Akira asks at the ice cream black hole.

"I don't know!" Terra giggles.

"Um…Terra-chan, do you know Yagami-san's cellphone number?" Akira really hopes that she does but at the same time does not.

"Here you go!" Terra _hands_ Akira her cellphone.

Akira takes it with the use of only his thumb and index finger, "Uh…Thanks…"

He scans her cellphone's phonebook and find Iori's number. He takes his own cellphone and dials the number.

After a few rings, an enraged voice answers, "**Who the hell is this?!**"

Akira hesitates to reply, "…Uh, Harima. Is this…Yagami Iori-san?"

"**What the hell do you want?!**"

"Uh…I think…you left Terra-chan…at the ice cream shoppé…and I think…you should be…picking her up now…_Please don't kill me!_"

"Terra? Fine, I'll pick her up, and you'd better not be there when I get there…**or I'll kill you for bothering me!**"

"Y-Yes, sir!" Akira ends the call and sighs. He looks through his wallet and puts $300 on the counter.

The guy takes the money and says, "Okay, your change will be—"

"Um, get Terra-chan whatever she wants with the change, okay? I'll have to go now," Akira walks to the door, then turns and waves good-bye to Terra.

He calmly walks away from the ice cream shoppé and makes his way to Malin's house without getting a living cremation. On his way, a wayward poster hits his face.

"Nani! Nani! _(What? What!)_" Akira takes the poster off his face and reads it:

"_OtakuMania 2007!_

_Cosplaying Competition. Anime Singing Competition._

_Character Sketching Competition. And many more!_

_Come to the biggest anime event in Southtown!_

_Where: Ring Leader's Square._

_When: Saturday, March 24, 200X. 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM._

_Admission is $20 for children and $30 for adults._"

"_That's tomorrow! I should get ready for tomorrow! I guess that saying is right: 'Since an arrow can only be shot by being pulled back. So, whenever you feel like life is pulling you down, you are gonna get launched into something big!' THIS IS AWESOME!_" Akira jumps up in excitement.

Ha makes his way to Malin's house, then opens the front door and greets, "Tadaima! _(I'm home!)_"

"Okairinasai! _(Welcome home!)_" Malin greets from the kitchen.

"This was one weird day…" Akira thinks aloud and drops his bag on the couch.

"Well, dinner's ready! Tell me where have you been this entire time?" Malin asks as she waits for Akira to sit at the dining table.

"Well…" Akira begins to elaborate.

After dinner is finished, Malin goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up. Akira takes his bag and goes to his room. He begins packing for the next day. He looks at his costumes to decide which he should wear for the cosplaying competition. After finishing, he goes to the bathroom to wash up. Fortunately, Malin is finished; so, no embarrassing event like the one a day earlier would be happening any time soon. He washes up and heads to his room. As he goes to his room, Malin sees Akira and his cheerful expression.

"What's up?" Malin asks him.

"Oh! I'm just a little excited about tomorrow!" Akira smiles at her.

"Okay…Just don't get too excited, or you won't be able to fall asleep, Akira-kun!" Malin laughs.

"I know…" Akira scratches the back of his neck, then blushes a little, "_Uh, she looks really cute in pajamas…_"

"Hm? What's wrong?" Malin asks curiously.

Akira coughs and clears his throat, "Nothing…It's just—"

"You're thinking of perverted thoughts, again," Malin giggles.

"Ah, no I'm not!" Akira blushes more.

"You are way too easy!" Malin laughs.

"It's not that! I'm just thinking that you look cute in—" Akira stops once he realizes what he has just said.

"What was that?" Malin asks suspiciously.

"Etto…Ano…Sono…Oyasumi nasai! _(Um…Well…That's…Good night!)_" Akira tries to make a break for it.

"I don't think so!" Malin jumps behind Akira and gives him a headlock.

However, Akira is much too tall and has been running. So, she ends up hanging on to him, until the weight on his neck chocks him and sends both of them to the floor.

On the floor, Malin is sitting on Akira's back; and Akira is lying on his belly and catching his breath.

"Didn't expect that to happen, I guess…" Malin remarks.

"Hon…tou…desu…ka _(Re…al…ly?)_," Akira breathes out.

"Yep. So, what were you saying?"

"I hate my life…" Akira's breath returns, and he admits, "I was saying that you look really cute in those pajamas…"

"Oh? Thanks for the compliment then!" Malin gets off Akira's back.

Akira gets up and blushes, then greets her, "Saa, oyasumi nasai _(Anyway, good night)_, Malin-chan."

"Oyasumi! _('night!)_" Malin heads back to her room.

Akira, still blushing, says once Malin in nowhere in sight, "Ch, I lied to you and myself. Actually, you look breathtakingly beautiful in almost anything! _…I don't know why…but, taking the scenario into consideration, that sounded like a pick-up line…or a pun…_"

Akira pats his cheeks to stop his blushing. After doing so, he opens the door to his room and goes to bed.

* * *

**_Chapter 5 End_**

* * *

Still at the beach, the camera shows Mick talking a different group of children. Aisha is talking to the last group of kids and pointing to a hermit crab. Under a parasol, Naomi is sitting on a beach towel and reading a book. Rika is making her eighth sandcastle for the day. The seven others are conveniently close to her eighth. Cammy is using a metal detector for some reason. Kia is nowhere in sight. Oh, wait! She is lying down on a beach towel under a blue parasol and has a bag of ice lying on her head. Oh! And she is asleep.

"Any other questions?" Mick asks the children.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" a girl with long blonde hair and brown eyes and wearing a red two-piece swim suit asks.

"I meant questions that are related to studying and exercising," Mick laughs.

"How can exercising hewp me study?" a girl with long black hair and blue eyes and wearing a black one-piece swim suit asks.

"It has something to do with blood pumping back to your head. So, you can think more quickly and stay awake during exams," Mick explains.

"What is better: guns or swords?" a girl with short red hair and blue eyes and wearing a black one-piece swim suit asks.

"That's not even related to exercising…"Mick stares at her.

"What about food? Can that help? Since I can make sweets in my easy-bake oven!" a girl with long pink hair and blue eyes and wearing an orange two-piece swim suit asks.

"…Stick with brain food, but you can eat a lot of sweets, if you want to. You're kids, after all," Mick answers.

"Should we not be just praying to God? We should give our focus only to Him…" a girl with long jade-colored hair tied into a ponytail and crimson eyes and wearing a light green one-piece swim suit asks.

"Well…this is hard…" Mick admits, "I'm sure God would want us to study and help the world and our family once we graduate from college and get careers."

The jade-colored haired girl just stares at Mick.

"Okay…" Mick turns and smiles at the baby with light blue hair and blue eyes. She is wearing a chicken costume and clapping with her little chicken wings.

"Mick!" a male voice from off-screen calls. He is probably the one handing the camera, since the screen gets closer to Mick and the sound of sand being pulled from the beach. It implies that he is running to Mick.

"Yes, Asch?" Mick turns to the camera.

"Your turn to hold the stupid camera! I want to go work my magic on Aisha!" Asch yells. The camera is handed to someone else and looks at Asch— a fifteen-year-old boy with red hair and green eyes and a semi-muscular build.

Mick's voice tries to explain, "But—"

"Uuuu!" two of the little girls that Mick had been teaching all say in unison.

"What?" Asch asks.

"You said the 'S' word!" the blonde points at Asch.

"You're so mean!" the pink-haired one cries.

"I…thought you said that you knew how to handle kids!" Mick's voice yells.

"I can!" Asch snaps.

"God says that lying is a sin. So, you have sinned many times," the jade-haired girl explains.

Asch tries to explain, "Well, I—"

"Magic is also the work of the devil. Since you are not a prophet or instrument of God, you cannot perform miracles. Therefore, you are using the devil's magic…" she continues.

Asch tries to threaten the eight-year-old, "Look here little girl, I am two seconds from—"

"Anger is also a sin. Getting mad at others can lead to hate, and hate can lead to murder, and murder is a capital offense," she continues.

"Forget this! I'm going to see Aisha!" Asch stomps away and goes towards Aisha.

"Nice…he just got burned by an eight-year-old…" Mick's voice chuckles.

"It is also a sin to make fun of other's misfortunes…" she explains again.

"I'm sorry," Mick's voice says.

"I'm okay now…" the pink-haired girl stops crying.

"Great!" Mick's voice sounds glad.

Soon, a beeping sound is heard.

"Oh, the batteries about to expire…" Mick's voice adds, "Well, we'll have to cut this short! I have to go recharge this at the hotel!"

With that, the screen elevates above the girls' heads and moves at an angle to see them again. It backs away from them slowly.

"Bye, Mick!" the blonde blows a kiss to the camera.

"Heh heh!" the redhead acts as if she is shooting a gun aimed at the camera.

"Bye-bye!" the pink-haired one waves.

"May God protect you…" the jade-haired one blankly says.

The baby in the chicken suit waves goodbye, as well.

Mick comments, "Well, it's a good thing that the camera's not gonna take anymore punish—"

Mick spoke too soon. The screen turns to the sky then shakes for a split-second. After that, it gains some static and turns to the left. The sandy ground is to the left of the screen. So, the camera is on sideways. With that done, the entire screen turns to static.

"Oh, cr— crud…" Mick's voice comments, then the screen turns black.

* * *

Wow! I finally have internet!

I've been having a few problems with this chapter since I had to actually add some of the other KOF characters.

Well, right now, it's still just a nutty and long prologue. This way the readers (if any) want to get to know some of the original characters and meet some real characters.

Oh, some of my friends have asked me what the other characters are doing at this time.

So, the next chapter will be about the Iori Team, which consists of Yagami Iori, Burnside Ace, and Wattson Terra.

Yeah, I know a lot of people hate me.

_Easter Eggs: Love Hina, Galaxy Angel_

One more thing: I have no idea what place in Southtown would hold an anime convention. So, I had to just create one. Sorry, if I'm abusing my power as a writer. Or something like a writer.

I **SO** need help from another writer! _sobbing_.


End file.
